How did you get Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell to come in?
I called Johnny just to commiserate, and he said, “Whatever you decide to do, I’ll be there.” I found that was the most crucial call, because all the reasonable, intelligent, experienced financiers were leaving. That stopped the retreat of the loot. That didn’t solve the problem. I still had to work out what I would do. I needed three actors. I started calling Heath’s friends. Ultimately, we managed to sort out all of our schedules. Johnny was preparing to shoot Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, and the shoot was delayed a week. He jumped right in. The most ironic part was that I’d been talking to Jude before Heath was involved. We’d made this picture book to bring out to Hollywood and try to raise money. It included the scene with the ladders. Fantasy became reality, and he wound up doing that. Colin looks darker and more villainous, so he’s the ultimate one. Johnny has the best chance of dragging the audience with him. There was no time to rehearse, which was why I was asking for close
