Verne Troyer on His Doctor Parnassus Role: 'I Didn't Think I Pulled It Off'

How did you fit into that cast?

There was a lot of great people. Working with Christopher Plummer, I mean, he's a legend. I was so, so nervous even meeting him, but he made me feel comfortable and that helped me tremendously. Heath is a legend in his own right, and I was such a big fan of his. He's such a giving actor -- say we're in a scene together and it's my close-up. He's not in the shot, but he's still there in the scene playing Tony, which helps you portray the character you're playing. He was a tremendous talent, taken so early.

What was Heath like between takes?

He seemed confident and he had a lot of energy coming straight off [The Dark Knight]. He was so excited to work with Terry again -- he found out about the role and actually called him up and said I want to do this with you. He was just amazing, I don't know how else to say it. We were in the middle -- we had shot all the exterior scenes, and we had a week off in January and we were going to shoot all the other scenes in Vancouver. Then the tragedy happened, and I had to go back and shoot all my interiors. It's kind of weird how it worked out, because all my scenes with Heath were outside, no interiors, so I didn't get to work with Colin Farrell, Jude Law, Johnny Depp. It was a tremendous experience having that time and that little chapter with Heath.

How did the mood on set change?

It was hard for everybody. It was really hard for me. [Pause] I didn't know what to expect coming back into it. With all of us, the way that we felt about Heath, we just wanted to come together and support each other and get the film done and make it good for Heath.

What was it like attending Cannes? Had you been before?

No! It was tremendous. Being there for the first time in the South of France, the weather was perfect, and my movie was premiering at Cannes...it just doesn't get much better than that. I've never seen a movie -- especially a movie I'm in -- get a standing ovation at the end. They were up there clapping for five minutes, and I don't know what you're supposed to do! Take a bow? I mean, it's over. Walk out! Come on, leave! [Laughs] It's just overwhelming.

Were you surprised by the trouble the film has finding distribution?

I just couldn't believe that the movie has Christopher Plummer and Heath Ledger -- who passed away on the film -- and nobody wanted to distribute it. Even when we were at Cannes getting all this great press saying how unbelievable it was, nobody wanted to buy it. You can't predict with Hollywood -- we didn't get picked up until right before Toronto, really. What Terry said at lunch today is that we're getting so many fantastic turnouts overseas, and he just wants this movie to be really big at the box office so we can say, "Fuck you, Hollywood. It's a good film, and we did this, so fuck off." [Laughs]

Did you make Werner Herzog's My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done after this?

I didn't do the Herzog film.

Oh, it's on your IMDb.

Yeah, we're trying to get them to take it off.

How did it get there?

Some guy sees a -- excuse my French -- "midget" in a movie and thinks it's me. I have no idea how it got there, but I've been trying to get it off for some time now.

There are always rumors that another Austin Powers film might be in the offing. Have you heard anything?

It's up to Mike. We'll see what happens -- if he decides to, I would love to be a part of it. Hopefully I'd find out before it hits the press, but if it happens, I would love it.

What's next for you?

I enjoyed playing this role more than I thought I would, and I definitely want to reach out in that direction a little more. Right now, there's a film, a small production where I play the father of an abused child. I'm the abusive one.

Is it a dramatic role?

Kind of. It can't be too much of a dramatic blockbuster with Jenna Jameson being in it.

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