Cruise offered to step into Ledger’s role, but director Terry Gilliam refused the offer because he didn’t know the now-deceased actor, reports FemaleFirst.
Ledger had been working on the film The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus before he died of an accidental overdose in January 2008.
Gilliam then had to decide whether to cancel the project or continue on with another actor. In the end, he opted to hire three actors, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, who will all play versions of Ledger’s character, Tim.
Gilliam revealed that Cruise had offered to shoot some scenes for the film, but that offer was rejected.