Speaking about the impact of Brokeback Mountain, which was released in 2005, Gyllenhaal recalled what it was like to work with Ledger and director, Ang Lee.
The movie was released in 2005 (Focus Features)
The movie is set in 1960s Wyoming and explores the forbidden love of two ranch-hands forced to deny their true feelings for one another.
Brokeback Mountain was released around two years before Ledger’s death in January 2008.
During that year, Ledger’s final film – The Dark Knight – hit cinema screens, earning him worldwide acclaim for his role as the Joker.
Ledger died aged just 28, having accidentally overdosed on prescription medication while the movie was in post-production.
Speaking about his co-star at the 2018 BAFTAs, Gyllenhaal paid an emotional tribute to Ledger, explaining how he would have ‘loved’ to witness the ‘incredible change’ since the movie was released.
He said: “Heath, Ang and I were at the centre of a storm that year, fielding the praise and controversy that came from telling a love story about two men.
“Standing here tonight, I can’t help but think about Heath, and how much he would’ve loved to witness all of this incredible change that has been effected in the LGBT community in the intervening years.
“He would be proud to know that he had somehow played a small part in all of it.
“I know that I am. And even though Brokeback was very much a movie of its moment in history, Ang made sure that it would stand the test of time.”
Gyllenhaal and Ledger starred in the movie together (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Following the release of the movie in the early noughties, Ledger gave a brilliant response to a reporter who asked what his response would be to those branding the film ‘disgusting’.
Ledger began by saying that anyone harbouring homophobic views is ‘immature’ and urged them to ‘get over’ the fact Brokeback Mountain is a love story about two men.
He said: “I think it’s a real shame. Well, I think it’s immature, for one, really immature. But I think it’s an incredible shame that people go out of their way to voice their disgust or negative opinions about the way two people wish to love one another.”
Ledger continued: “Come on. At least voice your opinions on how two people show hate and violence and anger towards each other, isn’t that more important? I think so. It doesn’t really concern me. I think it’s a shame. But I also feel like it’ll surprise people.
“Unfortunately people are very quick in life to label something they’re uncomfortable with. It transcends a label. It’s human. It’s a story of two human beings, two souls that are in love. Get over the fact that there’s two men – that’s the point.”
Featured Image Credit: BAFTA / Focus Features
Topics: Celebrity, Entertainment, Jake Gyllenhaal, TV and Film, Heath Ledger
Lucy Devine
Footage resurfaces of celebrities’ reaction when Heath Ledger won an Oscar after he died
Heath Ledger won an Oscar after he passed away.
Resurfaced footage shows the heartbreaking reaction from the room when Heath Ledger won an Oscar after his passing.
Just over 12 months after his death, the late actor won the Best Supporting Actor award for his iconic performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight.
On 22 January 2008, Ledger died at the age of 28 after accidentally overdosing on prescription painkillers while The Dark Knight was in the final stages of production.
When he was announced as a winner at the 81st Academy Awards on 22 February 2009, the celebrities in the crowd appeared to look visibly upset.
Watch below:
Ledger’s father Kim Ledger, his mother Sally Bell and older sister Kate Ledger went up on stage to collect the award on the Brokeback Mountain star’s behalf.
During the acceptance speech, Kim said the Oscar would have been validation of his son’s ‘quiet determination to be truly accepted’ by his fellow Hollywood stars.
Oscars
The speeches from Ledger’s family members were delivered to an audience on the verge of tears as the footage of the awards ceremony shows some of the brightest lights of the movie industry overcome with emotion.
While his mother said they would be using the moment to be ‘happy for what he has achieved’, the room full of Hollywood’s brightest lights was clearly struck by sorrow for having lost one of their own number.
The reaction of major stars like Brad Pitt, Anne Hathaway, Ben Kingsley and Kate Winslet to a much deserved award that Ledger didn’t live to receive himself is truly heartbreaking.
Oscars
Kate spoke to her brother the night before he died and said they were ‘laughing and joking’, while she dispelled any rumours that his performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight or his preparation for the role had contributed to his death.
There had been claims that Ledger’s dedication to the role, including locking himself in a hotel room for weeks and keeping a diary of his character’s thoughts had contributed in some way to his death, but his sister refuted those suggestions.
She explained that he’d been ‘so proud’ of what he’d done on the movie and was looking forward to appearing in another as he’d ‘had the best time ever’ working on the film.
Oscars
She said: “He loved working with Chris Nolan and Christian Bale and Gary Oldman.
“When he came home at Christmas, he couldn’t wait to tell us all about it, and he was doing the voice and laughing, showing me all the rushes. We had a great time.”
For many fans, he’s the greatest actor to play The Joker of all time and his performance in The Dark Knight will live forever in memory – even if it’s such a shame that he never got to hold the Oscar he earned.
Featured Image Credit: Oscars
Topics: Heath Ledger, Oscars, Celebrity
Anish Vij
Footage shows Goldie Hawn choking up announcing Heath Ledger as BAFTA winner after he died
The recently resurfaced footage shows several celebrities feeling emotional
Footage has resurfaced from the 2009 BAFTAs, showing Goldie Hawn choke up while announcing that Heath Ledger had won following his death.
The video shows the emotional reactions of several actors, and features a heartfelt speech from Charles Roven.
Heath Ledger tragically passed away on 22 January 2008 due to an overdose of prescription drugs while The Dark Knight was in its latter production stages.
Ledger had previously been nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role at the BAFTAs in 2006 for his role in Brokeback Mountain, losing out to Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote.
The Australian actor was then up for the award of Best Supporting Actor at the BAFTAs in 2009 for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight against the likes of Brad Pitt for Burn Before Reading, and Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder.
Since The Dark Knight was released, the commitment and execution that Ledger put towards the Joker role has been lauded, and it has been regarded as the all-time best portrayal of the DC villain.
BBC
Academy Award winning actress Goldie Hawn announced the winner of the Best Supporting Actor category to be Heath Ledger, but was audibly choked up while saying his name, apologising after steadying herself.
She then announced that Charles Roven would pick up the award, and the producer paid his respects: “Knowing Heath, I know that he would be very humbled just to be in the company of the other performances that were also nominated this evening.
“I had the good fortune of making two films with Heath and I considered myself lucky just to have made one. The last one was The Dark Knight.” Roven emotionally continued.
He concluded: “He was, as an actor and a professional and a human being, one of a kind.”
BBC
The camera panned to other celebrities and Ledger’s fellow nominees throughout the speech, with not a dry eye in the house.
Terry Gilliam was the actor on a film that Ledger was working on prior to his death, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
Gilliam shared: “Everybody has said he was extraordinary, but we can’t even begin to image what he was going to be.”
He insisted that we only saw the ‘tiny tip of the iceberg’ with him and called his death an ‘incredibly tragedy.
The director called him a ‘genius’ and that ‘there was nothing he couldn’t do, while acknowledging that we was ‘one of the greatest gentlemen’ he had known.
Ledger also posthumously won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight.
Featured Image Credit: BBC
Topics: Heath Ledger, BAFTAs, Joker, TV and Film, Celebrity
Joshua Nair
Christopher Nolan reflects on accepting award for Heath Ledger in moving speech at Golden Globes
He won the best director award for Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan spoke about his ‘dear friend’ Heath Ledger in an emotional speech after he won the best director role at the Golden Globes.
Nolan, 53, scooped the Golden Globe for Best Film Director for Oppenheimer – one of five wins for the movie.
Oppenheimer also won the awards for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for Cillian Murphy, Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr and Best Original Score – Motion Picture for Ludwig Göransson.
Collecting his award, Murphy paid tribute to Nolan and their 20-year-long collaboration that has seen them work on six movies together so far.
He said: “I knew the first time I walked on a Chris Nolan set it was different.
“I could tell by the level of vigour, focus, the level of dedication and the complete lack of seating options for actors.”
And when it was Nolan’s turn to step on stage to collect his award, he recalled the moment he accepted an award for the late Ledger, who died in 2008 aged just 28.
CBS
Ledger tragically passed away before the release of Nolan’s The Dark Knight in which he played the Joker.
Ledger’s performance in the Batman movie was met with critical acclaim, and he posthumously won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, and a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Nolan said: “The only time I have only ever been on this stage before was accepting one of these on behalf of our dear friend Heath Ledger and that was complicated and challenging for me.
“In the middle of speaking Robert Downey Jr caught my eye and gave me a look of love and support, the same look he is giving me now, the same love and support he’s shown so many people in our community over so many years.
CBS
“I thought it would be simpler accepting for myself but as a director of course I accept on behalf of (everyone), as directors we bring people together, we try and get them to bring their best.”
Downey Jr won the award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer.
Appearing on stage, he joked: “I took a beta blocker so this is going to be a breeze.”
The 58-year-old then thanked the cast and crew which helped them ‘render a God damn masterpiece’ in Oppenheimer.
Featured Image Credit: CBS
Topics: Celebrity, Golden Globes, TV and Film, Heath Ledger, Christopher Nolan
Claire Reid
Heath Ledger made prediction about The Dark Knight before he passed away that came true
Ledger died from an accidental overdose while The Dark Knight was in the final stages of production
Heath Ledger made a bold prediction about how The Dark Knight would be received before he passed away, Andrew Garfield says.
The late actor died at the age of 28 after accidentally overdosing on prescription painkillers while the movie was in the final stages of production.
Just over 12 months after his death on 22 January 2008, Ledger was awarded the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor posthumously for his iconic portrayal of the Joker.
Heath Ledger died from an accidental overdose while The Dark Knight was in the final stages of production (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
Now, The Amazing Spider-Man star Garfield claims he had a brief interaction with Ledger not long after he finished filming.
In an interview on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Garfield recalls the conversation he had at the time, explaining that Ledger predicted the flick’s success.
“He was so smug about it,” Garfield said.
“I was like, ‘How did that go?’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, it’s really good.’”
The pair also spent a short time working together on 2009’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
“I remember his like, Empire magazine cover came out and he was like, ‘Oh, they used a f**king s**t photo’,” Garfield said.
Garfield has recalled a conversation he once had with Ledger shortly after The Dark Knight had finished filming (YouTube/Josh Horowitz)
“And I was like, ‘Are you kidding me, dude that looks f**king incredible’.
“And he was like, ‘Nah, the pose is all wrong, it looks kinda like a conventional version of what an actor…you’ll see’. And yeah, I did see.”
The Social Network star also shared that Ledger once gave him a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses he had just complimented.
“He was just a very generous, beautiful, creative spirit,” he said. “He was a kind of beacon, it was like a wild animal.
“He was so free and so wild and so, kind of dangerous on set in a way that was the kind of thing that is inspiring and spontaneous.
“He would say before every take, or one take every scene, ‘Let’s have some fun with this one’.”
Ahead of the highly anticipated We Live in Time, Garfield is starring alongside Florence Pugh in the new romantic drama.
Directed by John Crowley, the film follows the passionate relationship between Almut (Pugh) and Tobias (Garfield).
The pair are connected in a hospital ward after Almut accidentally runs Tobias over.
They very quickly fall in love when Almut receives a horror cancer diagnosis which turns their world upside down.
The two stars have since opened up about how they bonded on set, revealing they ‘didn’t hear cut’ during a sex scene.
We Live in Time is set to be released in the UK on 1 January.
