Ten years have passed since Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal starred alongside in each other in Brokeback Mountain, director Ang Lee's revolutionary romance epic, but it didn't seem that way during Gyllenhaal's latest interview.
At a recent talk during The Hollywood Reporter's Hollywood Masters series, the 34-year old Gyllenhaal shared some poignant and personal memories of Ledger, his friend and co-star who passed away some eight years ago.
"Heath was always somebody who I admired. He was way beyond his years as a human, in a way. I wasn't quite sure where he came from." Said Gyllenhaal.
"I mean, I know he's from Perth, but I wasn't really quite sure where he came from, and I think that's the feeling most people got when they were around him and why he was so extraordinary. And when that opportunity came, I was a young actor. I was like, 'Yeah, I'm in."
He said that script for Brokeback was one of "the most beautiful" he had ever read.
On his character, Jack Twist, Gyllenhaal said:
"You know, it was binding, because sometimes a lot of that character is very specifically the more overtly gay character of the two. The one who's struggling with it less. And I didn't really realize that. And that was an interesting journey for me, giving into that idea. Being the one who tries to push the relationship."
Later he talked about the state of the film industry, saying that the treatment of gay actors has changed considerably in the past decade.
"When the Supreme Court [issued a ruling] just a little while ago, I felt like we had been part, a little part and parcel of that movement. I was proud, you know? To me that's really a pretty incredible moment. We had to wait a little while for it. But when will it be OK for an actor to be gay? I mean, it's OK now.""
