MINI-ME STAR VERNE TROYER TELLS ME IN OUR VEGAS REUNION THAT HE’S BEATEN DRUGS & BOOZE
Everybody loves Austin Power’s actor Verne Troyer—and the Mini-Me star was back in Vegas for a visit and we met up at the new Palms Place condo-tel to help celebrate the opening of the new Rojo lounge there. He worked with me for 10 weeks last year when I hosted the VH1 Fame Games series we filmed here.
I remarked how well he looked and Verne told me: “For a long time I was drinking too much and doing drugs. I knew it was wrong but I was angry at the world, depressed and very unhappy. But now I’ve beaten that, lost weight—and got myself healthy and back together again. I was spending money like crazy and living it up all hours of the night with strippers and bad women. I am now back in good shape again ”
He still needs an electric chair to help him move around because of his small-person stature but he was laughing and happily posed for photos with admiring female fans. Verne, who stayed at the Mandalay Bay Resort, also hit the new Prive nightclub at the Planet Hollywood Resort where he joined in singing rap for the crowd!
But he’s proudest of all at getting back to movie-making and he’s just taken a break from filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus up in Vancouver, which will be released next year. The fantasy-adventure, written and directed by Monty Python’s genius Terry Gilliam has proved to be a unique challenge for everybody involved. Actor Heath Ledger who starred in the film died from a drug overdose—and Verne told me that as a result production was temporarily suspended. Screenwriter Charles McKeown and Gilliam rewrote the script to have his character make transformations as he traveled through different dimensions.
It’s the story of an immortal 1,000-year-old leader of a traveling theater troupe, Dr. Parnassus, played by Christopher Plummer who through a deal with the devil takes audience members through a magical mirror to explore their imaginations. Verne told me: “Heath Ledger played a mysterious outsider who rescues the doctor’s daughter when the devil, played by Tom Waits, comes to collect on the deal. All the filming with him of the “real world’ scenes had been completed in London but after his tragic death they had to bring in three other actors for the ‘ magical realm travel’ filming.
“Heath’s death from an accidental prescription drugs overdose was a very sad shock to me. He was only 28. It was a real wake up call about my own physical abuse. It made me realize I can and never will do drugs and booze again.”
Heath was a key factor in financing the film’s $30 million budget. The production began in December at such London landmarks as St. Paul’s Cathedral, Tower Bridge and the Battersea Power Station but was disrupted on Jan. 22 following his death in New York. Two-days later filming was suspended indefinitely. At first Gilliam, determined to salvage the movie considered using computer-generated imagery to make Heath’s character change appearance. But that then led to Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell offering to step in to finish the role—and the producers agreed to all three! Filming resumed in Vancouver earlier this month!
“I’m really feeling good again about everything. The bad dark days are behind me” Verne summed up.