10 Movie Characters Totally Changed During Production

5. Tony - The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus

The Character

Tony (Heath Ledger), a con artist whose life is saved by a travelling circus troupe famed for their Imaginarium - a surreal dreamscape that allows visitors to shape its "reality" to fit their own desires.

What Changed?

In perhaps the most famous example of a character's role being re-worked mid-production, Heath Ledger died from an accidental overdose one-third of the way through shooting this fantasy romp, at which point writer-director Terry Gilliam considered shelving the film entirely.

Eventually, Gilliam was able to re-group, and decided that the film's fantastical nature would allow the story to be salvaged.

It was decided that Tony's appearance would change whenever he entered the Imaginarium, with Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell being cast to play the three altered versions of Tony (and all three actors donated their fees to Ledger's daughter Matilda).

Though the film as a whole is undeniably messy, the end result is absolutely impressive, near-seamlessly filling the void left by Ledger with the help of a body double to transition between Depp, Law and Farrell.

It's a classic case of necessity proving to be the mother of invention, and the final film is certainly worthy of Ledger's effort and inestimable talents.