At sixty-nine, Terry Gilliam has been writing, directing, and animating longer than some of us have been alive. His latest film, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, famously stopped production after Heath Ledger's untimely death. Gilliam's loyal friends rallied him to continue production, with Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell all sharing Ledger's role. The film opens December 25. His advice is good right now.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?

I have no advice for the young except to get a job, a proper job. I myself decided to quit the night shift at the Chevrolet assembly plant, out in the San Fernando Valley of California, and go and get a job at a children's theater, building sets, painting myself green and playing ogres, and making absolutely no money at all. It was the best thing I ever did.

Try to do the things you want to do, that you get fulfillment and pleasure out of. I come from cartoons, where all I needed to get my ideas realized was a piece of paper and a pen. Early in my career, I got used to that kind of freedom. And eventually, that led to [Monty] Python, where there were six of us doing exactly what we wanted. We were lucky because we were on the BBC, so we had access to a public of millions, and we succeeded. Along the way, you develop confidence in your own ideas and your ability to carry them out.

FEAR NO MISTAKE

At the end of the day, you will make your share of huge mistakes. But often the mistakes lead you somewhere more interesting. As far as I can see, things never work very smoothly and you just have to keep your eyes and ears open. It helps to be very clear about what you don't want to do.

THE BRUCE BANNER OF FILMMAKING

Movies are like reality. They're like life — unless you happen to sell your soul and go work in Hollywood and do whatever they want you to do, with all the money they throw at you. But if you're out there doing what you want to do and maintaining your independence, it's really rough.

I actually find that the restrictions placed on me have led to results that were better than my original intentions. Something happens when people start blocking me, when events block me or money blocks me: I start getting angry, and kind of like the Hulk, my adrenaline starts flowing, and instead of turning into a big destructive monster, my creative juices start flowing, and I come up with really good ideas. I guess I'm the creative Hulk.

The last few films I've done have been based on other people's material — books, whatever — and this time I thought it would be interesting to start with a blank page and see what we [Gilliam and his co-writer, Charles McKeown] could come up with. We didn't have a story or even any characters in mind. One idea led to the next, and it started taking form, and then we'd throw more things at it and see if they'd stick.

THE THIN LINE BETWEEN FANTASY AND REALITY

My wife thinks I keep making the same movie over and over. I'm always playing with the borderland between reality and fantasy, trying to find the line that divides the two. To me, they both need each other, they feed off each other. Fantasy is often a reaction to the reality of your life, and the reality of your life changes according to your dreams. It's a dialogue between these two things. I just keep trying to find ways to keep the dialogue fresh.