At the 78th Academy Awards, when Paul Haggis’ Crash was announced as the Best Picture winner, there was an audible gasp throughout the venue. Pretty much everyone in there – including the award’s announcer, Jack Nicholson – was expecting Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain to win. Lee’s film was a beautiful, tragic love story, a stepping stone for LGBTQ+ representation in mainstream Hollywood cinema, and undeniably one of the finest movies of 2005.
Crash wasn’t a bad movie, but it was a lot more heavy-handed and a lot less emotionally resonant than Brokeback Mountain. So, here are 10 interesting details from the making of Brokeback Mountain.
10 Heath Ledger Nearly Broke Jake Gyllenhaal’s Nose During A Kissing Scene
Before filming began, director Ang Lee gave his stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal copies of Will Fellows’ book Farm Boys: Lives of Gay Men from the Rural Midwest as a reference guide. The book had been recommended by Annie Proulx, the source material’s author, and Diana Ossana, the script’s co-writer.
Reportedly, while Ledger and Gyllenhaal were filming one of the kissing scenes, Ledger accidentally came close to breaking Gyllenhaal’s nose in the throes of passion.
9 Gus Van Sant And Joel Schumacher Both Wanted To Direct
Openly gay filmmakers Gus Van Sant and Joel Schumacher were both interested in directing Brokeback Mountain while it was in development. Van Sant instead went on to direct Milk, a biopic about gay rights activist Harvey Milk.
Ang Lee has said that if Brokeback Mountain was made in the 1960s (when the story is set), the perfect casting for the leads would’ve been Paul Newman as Ennis and Montgomery Clift as Jack. Newman and his classic cohort Robert Redford were offered the roles of a gay couple in the ‘60s, but they turned it down.
8 Anne Hathaway Auditioned For Brokeback Mountain In Her Princess Diaries 2 Costume
When Anne Hathaway was first sent the script for Brokeback Mountain, she was being considered for the role of Alma, but as she read it, she found herself drawn to Lureen instead.
Hathaway went into her audition in her wardrobe and makeup from The Princess Diaries 2, as she had to take a break from filming the sequel to attend the audition. The casting director apologized to Ang Lee on Hathaway’s behalf for what she was wearing, but Lee wasn’t familiar with Hathaway’s work prior to her audition.
7 Ang Lee Faced Constant Difficulties With The Sheep
Emma Thompson recalled in the published screenplay for Sense and Sensibility that Ang Lee had difficulties with a flock of sheep on the set and vowed to never work with animals again. However, he went on to make Brokeback Mountain, about two men who meet while herding sheep. Lee should’ve stuck to his promise, as he faced constant problems with the sheep on the set of Brokeback Mountain.
Sheep don’t drink from running water sources – only from ponds and lakes – so Lee spent a whole day futilely trying to get sheep to drink from a stream. There was also risk of the animals spreading diseases to one another, as American sheep were mixed in with Canadian sheep.
6 Having Grown Up On Farms, Heath Ledger Refused To Go To Cowboy Camp For The Film
When Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal signed on to the project, they were offered a stint at something called “cowboy camp.” Having grown up on farms in Western Australia, Ledger refused to attend. He already had all the skills he needed. Gyllenhaal, on the other hand, was forced to attend the camp, as he had no such experience.
5 Matt Damon And Ben Affleck Were Considered To Play The Male Leads
Before Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal were cast in the lead roles, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Billy Crudup, Colin Farrell, and Josh Hartnett were all considered. Mark Wahlberg was considered for a role, but he turned down the script for being too sexually explicit.
It’s been rumored that Joaquin Phoenix was offered a role, but he denies such an offer being made, as he would’ve accepted the part. Joseph Fiennes was so eager to get himself cast that he met with three different attached directors during the development process.
4 A Few Crew Members Unwittingly Used The Same Book As A Visual Reference
Marit Allen, the costume designer working on Brokeback Mountain, consulted a book of Richard Avedon’s photographs of the American West from the 50s and 60s. Coincidentally, a bunch of other crew members had been using the same book as a visual reference.
No one had recommended it to anyone else; they all just happened to be on the same page about the movie’s production design. As it turned out, the screenwriters had consulted the book during pre-production, too.
3 The Shirts Worn By The Lead Actors Sold For More Than $100,000
Ennis and Jack’s shirts are featured prominently throughout Brokeback Mountain. How these shirts are arranged in the characters’ wardrobes is a key component of the film’s visual storytelling.
After the movie was released, film historian Tom Gregory purchased the shirts used during filming for $101,100 on eBay. According to Gregory, Ennis and Jack’s shirts are this generation’s answer to the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz.
2 Heath Ledger And Michelle Williams Fell In Love During Filming
During the filming of this movie, Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams fell in love and started dating. Williams gave birth to the couple’s daughter, Matilda Rose Ledger, just before the film’s premiere. Their co-star Jake Gyllenhaal was appointed the godfather of the child.
In order to get into the right headspace for the scene in which Alma finds out her husband is romantically involved with a man, Williams requested that Ledger and Gyllenhaal make out in front of her. She kept asking them to redo the kiss, as she found it to be too half-hearted.
1 Brokeback Mountain Saved Ang Lee From An Early Retirement
Director Ang Lee was interested in helming Brokeback Mountain years before he actually made the movie. Failing his first attempt to make it, he directed both Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hulk, which left him feeling exhausted and disillusioned with filmmaking.
He seriously considered retiring, but decided to remain a director when he heard that Brokeback Mountain still hadn’t been made. Shooting Brokeback Mountain reinvigorated Lee’s passion for filmmaking, and saved him from an early retirement.
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