After nearly 15 years since Brokeback Mountain, Jake Gyllenhaal revealed that his co-star, the late, great, Heath Ledger, refused to present at the Oscars — taking a stand against the homophobic jokes that seemed to orbit the film.
After nearly 15 years since Brokeback Mountain, Jake Gyllenhaal revealed that his co-star, the late, great, Heath Ledger, refused to present at the Oscars — taking a stand against the homophobic jokes that seemed to orbit the film.
The movie was forward-thinking, ahead of its time, and it had an iconic cast.
What's not to love?
It was a tale of two cowboys in the 1960s and their forbidden but 20-year-long romance.
The pair were hired as sheepherders in Wyoming, where their romance budded.
One night, Jack makes a pass at Ennis, after a drunken night on Brokeback Mountain — a pass that is eventually reciprocated, repeatedly.
So close, in fact, that Heath made Jake the Godfather of his daughter, Matilda Rose, and Busy Philipps as her Godmother, in October of 2005.
For the most part, Jake has kept quiet about his friendship with Heath ever since his accidental overdose in 2008.
Anyway, because the film was so ahead of its time, it was the center of a lot of homophobic jokes.
In an interview with Sunday Today back in July 2019, Jake revealed exactly how Brokeback Mountain affected his reputation an acting career, and how his late costar, Heath, took to the scrutiny.
"This is a level of focus and attention that hits a certain nerve and you're like, 'This is bigger than me,'" he said. "It was amazing. It was crazy."
“Someone wanted to make a joke about the story or whatever, he was like, ‘No. This about love,’” he said.
“I mean, I remember they wanted to do an opening for the Academy Awards that year that was sort of joking about it,” he said.
"I was sort of at the time, ‘Oh, okay… whatever.’ I’m always like: It’s all in good fun," he went on, before explaining that Heath took the jokes more seriously.
When asked if Jake agreed with Heath's decision, he replied:
"Absolutely."
“There are things you’re chosen for – a quality, an essence – and Ang [the creator of Brokeback Mountain] did that."
He explained that the film has a very special meaning to him because of his own life experiences.
"It means something completely different to me," he concluded.
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