The role of the title character in Casanova was chosen by Heath Ledger after he did Brokeback Mountain. It was a logical choice, if I were an actor, I would want to be in a much lighthearted and cheerful fare after doing something as depressingly angsty as Brokeback too. The director of this film is Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom, whose better-known films are Chocolat, Cider House Rules and What's Eating Gilbert Grape, so I guess he is quite a serious director (although the aforementioned works do possess certain hints of humour)
