Heath Ledger's role in 'Brokeback Mountain' miffed Mel Gibson

Rush and Molloy (NY Daily News) ^ | 01.25.08 | Rush and Molloy

[Perdogg]

Inquiring minds ping! ;)

[brooklyn dave]

What if Ledger wanted to play an anti-Semitic drunk?

[cripplecreek]

Role is the operative word here. After all R Lee Ermy played a gay football coach who married Jack Black.

[ClearCase_guy]

It is perhaps interesting that Heath Ledger got advice from Jack Nicholson and didn't take it (Jack said after the death "I told him so" -- whatever that really means).

And Heath got advice from Mel Gibson and didn't take it.

The whole thing is a shame, but if industry giants were giving me advice, I'd gratefully take it.

[JoanVarga]

What if Ledger wanted to play an anti-Semitic drunk?

Cold, man. But perfect!

-Joan

[Perdogg]

This is why I could never be an actor. I would have no problem doing nudity, but I could never kiss man or pretend to have sex with a man. I guess the only benefit for Heath in Brokeback Mountain was Michelle Williams.

[Vision]

He had to be unstable to take that role.

[Tax-chick]

It appears he felt he could handle his own career. Was doing well at it, too, from a business standpoint.

I was reading anti-Castro Cuban blog earlier, and there was an entry about Heath Ledger. The blogger thought he was a talented actor and was sorry he died.

[cripplecreek]

Yeah I think I could play a gay man as long as it never involved more than a peck on the cheek.

What kills me are the guys who do gay porn and claim they aren’t gay. I’m sorry but if you stick your willywong in someone elses unloading dock, you’re gay.

[Sue Perkick]

I shouldn’t laugh but that’s pretty funny.

[Vision]

That was a comedy, Bareback was much different.

How can any man go through life being known for “I wish I could quit you?”

[trumandogz]

He had to be unstable to take that role.

I am not all that sure "actors" should consider the morality of the role they play in a film. If that were the case, moral people could not play the role of a murderer, adulterer, thief, drunken anti-semite or politician.

[cripplecreek]

I didn’t watch Bareback mountain so I remember him for his role in the patriot.

[Vision]

That film was activist propaganda, not a run of the mill flick.

[Vision]

Me neither. He was great in the Patriot.

[trumandogz]

It was fiction, a movie and all the people in the movie were actors. The purpose of Brokeback Mountain was to make money and the goal of every actor in the film was not make money, not be an activist.

[Prodigal Son]

He had to be unstable to take that role.

Why? He was brilliant in that role. I thought he deserved the Oscar for it. If it had not been for the movie Crash being out the same year, Brokeback Mountain should have taken the Oscar for best film as well. Amazing piece of film making. Ang Lee got some very good performances out of his actors. It's one of the better films I've seen in the past ten years.