Jake Gyllenhaal revealed in a new interview that Brokeback Mountain co-star Heath Ledger refused to present at the 2006 Academy Awards ceremony over jokes about the acclaimed film. Ang Lee won Best Director at the Oscars for the sprawling, heart-rending western drama, which also won for its screenplay and musical score. Ledger and Gyllenhaal each earned Oscar nominations for their portrayals of a rancher and rodeo cowboy who unexpectedly fall in love while working together on a shepherding job along the titular mountain.
Ledger's towering performance in Brokeback Mountain marked his arrival as a true force in the Hollywood ranks, just a few years before the late actor unleashed his unforgettable turn as The Joker in The Dark Knight on the world. And Gyllenhaal's new anecdote about his on-screen lover underlines just how seriously Ledger took the film and his craft.
Speaking in an interview with Another Man, Gyllenhaal mentioned that Ledger declined to present an award at the 2006 Oscars, where Brokeback Mountain received eight total nominations. Gyllenhaal says the jokes planned for the telecast about the film were too offensive for Ledger to want to participate as a presenter.
I mean, I remember they wanted to do an opening for the Academy Awards that year that was sort of joking about it. And Heath refused. I was sort of at the time, ‘Oh, okay... whatever.’ I’m always like: It’s all in good fun. And Heath said, ‘It’s not a joke to me - I don’t want to make any jokes about it.’
Former Daily Show host Jon Stewart emceed the 2006 Oscars telecast, which opened with a Brokeback Mountain joke. It depicted a tent in the mountains that looked almost identical to that seen in the film. Out popped former Oscars hosts Billy Crystal and Chris Rock, telling the audience they couldn't host because they were "busy," a direct reference to the film's sex scene that was infamous at the time. Stewart made one crack about Brokeback Mountain and Capote in his opening monologue, saying the latter was "a groundbreaking film that broke taboos, that showed America, not all gay people are virile cowboys." Ledger was present at the ceremony, despite not presenting an award.
It's easy to look back on the 2006 Oscars and wonder why Ledger couldn't just have a sense of humor about it. But at the same time, some of the jokes made about Brokeback Mountain at the time could be seen as cringeworthy when viewed through a 2020 lens. Perhaps Ledger was a little ahead of his time in that regard. Ultimately, the most infamous moment of the night was Brokeback Mountain losing Best Picture to Crash.
Brokeback Mountain was added to the National Film Registry in 2018, and for good reason. It wasn't just a product of notoriety due to its subject matter. It's a timeless film with an extraordinary combination of direction, acting, writing, and music. The stuff of Hollywood magic. Ledger's performance put him on the map at the time, and rightfully so. And the fact that he took Brokeback Mountain as seriously as he did was reflected in his unforgettable performance.
Source: Another Man