Terry Gilliam describes the acting of the late Heath Ledger as “genius” and says he is someone who deserved greater recognition when he was alive.
The director was speaking after being named the winner of the Academy Fellowship at last night’s BAFTA
Gilliam said: “It would have been nice if Heath had won more awards when he was alive.
“Heath was a genius, I think there was nothing he could not do.”
He added that despite the praise given to the star’s performances, people could not imagine how good he would have been in the future.
Ledger won a posthumous award for Best Supporting Actor for his part in died during the filming of Gilliam’s upcoming movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus — his death attributed to a drug overdose.
Though we loved him most dearly, the drug aspects of it does tend to make one wonder about the genius aspects of it.
This is always the case-an actor suddenly dies and we all start to applaud him posthumously. Why couldn’t we shower him with accolades when he was alive so that he could acknowledge this?