Brokeback transformations - 'I felt uncomfortable just as Jake'

One of the many remarkable aspects of Brokeback Mountain, and the credit for this belongs as much to Ang Lee as it does to Jake Gyllenhaal, is how Jake was transformed from cityboy to cowboy. It wasn't easy for Jake, who had to get used to a lot more than just riding a horse that might throw him off in an instant.


'Yeah, I was naturally out of place there. I mean you're naturally out of place when you're a city boy anyway. As I walked into those bars I felt uncomfortable just as Jake. I'm not the kind of guy who walks into a bar and takes four shots; I'm just uncomfortable sitting at a bar. So it helped the idea that Larry and Ang and Annie were trying to tell with their story. You don't need to do much.' (Empire interview)


Cowboy bootcamp beckoned. '"He's a city boy. You could never make him look like a cowboy," the director laughs. He sent both Gyllenhaal and Ledger to cowboy school, although the Aussie actor came to the movie with a full set of skills, the thought of which inspires more chuckles from Lee. "Heath was always bored." The training was a necessity for Ledger's co-star. "He needed a lot of work, riding horses and doing chores, like moving back fences – spending half a day doing that – wood chopping, sheep tending, giving him splinters and bloody hands, and all that. Just rough him up," Lee notes.'


'From the director's standpoint, it was necessary for Ledger to take part in these sessions, as well, no matter how dull he might have found them. The idea was to bond the actors together, experience that became valuable when they started rehearsals and began discussing their characters. "What's their body language? How much Heath allowed the other person to come close to him," Lee explains, citing a few examples.'


One gets the feeling from many interviews conducted by Jake about Brokeback that Heath Ledger was an enormous influence for Jake on set, making him feel more comfortable when so clearly out of his element. Jake described one of his favourite scenes in the film: 'one of the best scenes in the movie for me is when Heath goes to the truck and punches that guy and gets thrown across the road, that makes me cry every time. Cos, one, I know it was the last day of shooting for him and he asked our wrangler, who is the guy who he punched, "Let's really fight; I really want you to beat me up" and he really got thrown across the cement.'

This is such a good interview, not least because it contains the immortal line: 'I've gotten so much flack about not getting naked and I am so open to getting naked'. Very good news.


Ang Lee had his own learning curve to climb, to get author Annie Proulx on board: 'Lee smiles as he jokes about how he pursued Annie Proulx in Wyoming and over dinner, persuading her to allow him to make her story into a movie by taking part in a regional delicacy. "I was very afraid of her," he says. "She’s very authoritative and serious. We were having dinner and she ordered some Rocky Mountain oysters and started smiling. I could tell what it was. I know there are no oysters in the Rocky Mountains," he continues, adding that the mood at the table became friendlier as the night wore on. "She said women are not supposed to eat them, and started smiling again. After a couple of drinks, she really loosened up," he says, laughing. "I guess she thought I was all right as the director of the movie." Lee says he was pleasantly surprised by the flavour of the bull’s fried former pride. "They’re pretty good. Lots of protein, I’m sure."'


A reader kindly posted a link here recently to a reminiscence of the Director's Guild Awards Dinner and Ang's nomination (and win): 'All of the honorees from film and television were present, with actors from their projects presenting them. Ang Lee ("Brokeback Mountain") was introduced by the quiet, softspoken Heath Ledger and the charming and gregarious Jake Gyllenhaal. They talked about what an honor and a privilege working on the film had been and how Ang's direction helped them grow as actors. When Heath and Jake introduced him, they both started to tear up and gave the director hugs when he reached the stage. The soft-spoken director took a moment, looked back at them with a smile, turned to the audience and said, "I don't know, guys. That felt kind of gay to me."'


Another report tells us what Jake and Heath said. '"Ang Lee is fierce in his timidity, his humbleness and his respect for everyone around him," Gyllenhaal said as he presented the diminutive director with a medallion in honor of his nomination. "He's frustrating and so damn wise." Ledger was equally generous with praise, thanking Lee for "introducing us to these delicate characters." "It took a delicate man to tell this story, and that's you," Ledger said. "I don't know about you," Lee said with a laugh, "but that feels a little gay to me."' Below is a visual reminder.



Finally, in a joint interview with Matt Damon, Heath recalled his own challenges on Brokeback: 'I mean, look, it was kinda like signing up for boot camp for I don't even know how many weeks I was out there, 15 weeks or something, but it was tough. It was a lonely experience, but it was definitely a real sense of accomplishment once I finished. It scared me s**tless. I was absolutely – I had so much fear for the project and the story and, you know, had to be brave. I definitely came out thinking, 'F**k, I can do anything' you know? It was a beautiful story, a beautiful script.' Q: Can you elaborate on what scared you? LEDGER: You know, the idea I had to make out with Jake Gyllenhaal for one, which, just wasn't the easiest thing to do.'


'DAMON: You found making out with me pretty easy though. LEDGER: It was dark and I was drunk. (Laughs) This was daytime and there was a lot of lights. (Laughs) You know, so that, it was just I had to do some things I've never done before. It was also like the aging process, I had to age from 18 to 40 and do that subtly. And there's not a lot of change between the age of 18 and 40 really. So I decided to do it in my accent. I staged my accent in pitches, so it was higher when I was younger and deeper when I was older and I tried to make it subtle. I've seen the film and I think it's, I'm not sure whether it's the most brilliant film I've seen or just the worst film I've seen. I've just come to terms with the fact now that I cannot transport myself when I watch myself in movies any more. I just think I'm crap in anything I do.'


And it turns out Matt was pretty close to doing the project himself: 'That's a beautiful script, Brokeback. I read it years ago. In fact, I was gonna do it years ago. Gus read it and wanted to do it after Good Will Hunting and I read it and I loved it. But I was going off to do Ripley and then All the Pretty Horses. So I said, 'Gus, I'm going to do a movie about, quite frankly, a guy who's gay, and then I'm going to do a movie about a cowboy. I shouldn't then just do a gay cowboy movie.' (Laughs) But I loved that script, I loved it. Larry McMurtry [wrote it].'


But, just as it was meant to be, Jake and Heath and Ang made Brokeback together and made it what it is and what it always will be. To give the last words to Heath (from the Tonight Show) '"It's a gorgeous script and God Jake's cute," said a smiling Ledger.'


Includes pictures from IHJ.