Terry Gilliam considered giving Heath Ledger a posthumous directing credit on The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus - because the late star influenced the movie from beyond the grave.
Ledger was shooting scenes for the film before his untimely death from a prescription drug overdose in January 2008.
Gilliam signed up Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell to carry on the project, with all of them agreeing to play different versions of Ledger's character Tim.
But The Dark Knight actor still managed to influence the movie after his death - Gilliam was forced to scrap some scenes because he could only picture Ledger playing them out.
And the star's continued presence in Gilliam's mind made him think about giving the tragic actor a posthumous co-director's credit on the movie.
He tells Total Film magazine, "Some scenes we couldn't do because Heath wasn't there. And I was like, 'The b**tard's directing this film!
"He's telling me what I can and can't do!' The film is better for these things. That's why I said, at one point, I wanted him to be co-director on the film."
The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus is released 16th October.
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