Terry Gilliam, the former Monty Python member turned director, has pushed back against his reputation for chaotic, disaster-prone film shoots, insisting he actually favours meticulous order. In an interview with The Talks, he argued that his practice of surrounding himself with well-organised collaborators creates a solid structure that allows the production to absorb creative surprises, and even survive the death of a lead actor, without descending into genuine chaos.

The article recounts several notoriously troubled Gilliam productions, including the collapse of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote after flash floods and other setbacks, clashes with Robert De Niro on Brazil, and the endangerment of a young Sarah Polley on The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. It centres on The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which nearly ended when its star Heath Ledger died in January 2008 partway through filming; rather than abandoning the project or resorting to CGI, Gilliam had Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell step in to portray Ledger's character across different fantastical realms, allowing the film to be completed.