When work on this 2006 film began, even Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon refused to participate. Years later, they may regret it, because the film turned out to be a huge hit, won an Oscar and is now considered a cult classic. Can you guess which movie we are talking about?
It was “Brokeback Mountain”, which ended up starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger.
This film is an American-Canadian production shot in 2005 by Ang Lee. The drama was a box office hit. The creators received a number of awards for the film, including: three Oscars, two BAFTA awards and four Golden Globes – a total of 80 industry awards and 64 nominations. “Brokeback Mountain” was also a kind of familiarization of the cinema audience with homosexuality and intimate scenes between actors of the same sex. Can you believe that Hollywood’s biggest stars didn’t see the potential in this film before it was made?
– Nobody wanted to do it. I was working on it, and I felt we needed a really strong cast, like a famous cast. That wasn’t working. I asked the usual candidates: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Ryan Phillippe. They all said no – said Gus Van Sant in 2018, who was supposed to direct the film.
This was also confirmed by Matt Damon himself.
– Years ago, Gus Van Sant wanted to do it with me and Joaquin Phoenix. But he was on his way to Italy to do ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ [whose character is gay] and then ‘All the Beautiful Horses’ [where he plays a cowboy]. And Gus wanted to do ‘Brokeback’ immediately after that. And I said, ‘Gus, I’m going to do a gay movie and then a cowboy movie.’ I can’t go on with a gay cowboy movie! – Matt Damon told Entertainment Weekly in a 2007 interview.