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Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal both earned Oscar nominations for their roles Broken Mountain — but they weren’t the only actors being considered for complex characters.
Set against the backdrop of 1960s Wyoming, cowboys Ennis Del Mar (Ledger) and Jack Twist (Gyllenhaal) develop an intense (and secret) love affair that only gets more complicated when they both marry their girlfriends, Alma Beers (Michelle Williams) and Lureen Newsome (Anne Hathaway) and have children.
Among the Hollywood A-listers considered for the roles of Jack and Ennis were Josh Hartnett and Leonardo DiCaprio. However, casting the film’s leads turned out to be more difficult than anticipated.
The 2005 film was not a “universal love story”, the screenwriter Diana Ossana recalled during an April 2018 Q&A session he moderated Packand noted “no one would commit” to the lead roles. She recalled a long list of “prominent young actors” who agreed and later left the project during the eight-year development process.
J. Vespa/WireImage Heath Ledger would have turned 45 on Thursday, April 4 — and his legacy is still being remembered. The Australian-born actor died aged 28 on January 22, 2008 after an accidental drug overdose. A toxicology report released after his sudden death revealed that Ledger died of “acute intoxication (…)
Edward Norton and Joel Schumacher were each asked to direct the film as well – both turned it down. “They didn’t give us any real excuse why they wouldn’t do it,” Ossana said. “I think they saw it as too difficult.
Despite that casting ups and downsOssana always wanted Ledger in the role of Ennis. “It was.” fight to get itbut it was worth it,” she said. Broken Mountain won three Oscars.
Scroll down to see which stars almost played Ennis and Jack:
