Lily Cole owes acting career to late Ledger

Washington (ANI): English actress Lily Cole insists that she owes her acting career to late actor Heath Ledger. Cole said he taught her the tricks of the trade while they were filming The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus. After a small role in Trinian's movie, the 21-year-old actress was hired for Terry Gilliam's fantasy epic, opposite Ledger and Christopher Plummer. She calls Ledger "a great friend and mentor."

"He definitely helped me," Contactmusic quoted her as saying. "From the beginning, he understood that I would be overwhelmed and scared by the size of the project. He encouraged me and said he was really proud of me, constantly fed me support," she added.

Cole reveals she came close to giving up on the film when Ledger was found dead of a prescription drug overdose in January 2008. His role was taken on by three other actors - Jude Law, Colin Farrell and Johnny Depp.

"Everyone loved Heath. For everyone who knew him, (his death) was devastating. The practicalities of continuing the production were difficult, but it seemed irrelevant," she said. "Johnny (Depp) slipped seamlessly into the role, but that didn't stop it being bizarre. I thought I was in at the deep end in the beginning - then look what happened!" she added.