Despite having the typical glitz, glamour and retina-burning camera flashes of other film premieres, there was a certain un-Hollywood atmosphere of sadness and regret over Heath Ledger's passing last year at the premiere of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, his last film, last night.
The film's stars, including Verne Troyer, Andrew Garfield, blues legend Tom Waits and supermodel Lily Cole, walked up the red carpet alongside their director Terry Gilliam to pay their respects to the late Oscar-winning great as much as talk about the film, upcoming projects and 'who they're wearing'.
Terry, who was keen to have the film seen as a tribute to his friend as well as its own work of art (even having "A film from Heath Ledger and friends" as the first words in the credits) said that Heath brought "joy, love, talent and greatness... he was an extraordinary man."
Heath Ledger's alter-egos within the film, Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell couldn’t make it on the night, but Terry was keen to point out how grateful he was for their help: "It was wonderful that that many people really loved Heath that much, to show the respect and love he was worthy of, and for three A-list actors to come in? This kind of thing has never happened before. It's a real testament to just how special Heath was."
Talking about his second attempt at filming the seemingly cursed project The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, he teasingly said, "We're up and running again, we've rewritten the script and finally got it back, the budget's come in... and I think we've found our Quixote! But who's it going to be? Well, I'm not going to tell you, but it'll start next Spring."
Worryingly talented Brit Andrew Garfield, star of Boy A, talked excitedly about his new film with Keira Knightley, Never Let Me Go, and hinted at his possible involvement in the new 'story of Facebook movie' The Social Network, which has already been linked with the likes of Justin Timberlake, but refused to confirm his role yet. Watch this space for more on that.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is out on October 16.