Lily Cole's Heath Shock

07 September 2009

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Lily Cole says Heath Ledger's death was the "most shocking" thing to have happened to her.

The model-turned-actress had been waiting to arrange to have dinner with her 'Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' co-star when she received a call saying he had died of an accidental drugs overdose.

She said: "It's the most shocking experience I've ever had. It was gutting and I was in a state of disbelief for a long time. It didn't feel at all real.

But I had mixed feelings about finishing it. When they first told me another actor was going to play him, I found the idea really bizarre.

"I had friends who were friends of his and we all met up in New York, but I didn't know what to do with myself. It was very weird.

Following Heath's death, the future of the then-unfinished film was in doubt until Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law agreed to divide his role between them but Lily admits she was reluctant to return to the set.

She added to Britain's Harper's Bazaar magazine: "I was so upset by what had happened to Heath that the film wasn't the biggest loss.

"I just had to sit and wait while poor Terry Gilliam, the director, and his daughter Amy, who was producing, were running round like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to pull it all together. I'm still incredibly impressed that they managed to.

"But I had mixed feelings about finishing it. When they first told me another actor was going to play him, I found the idea really bizarre."

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