It’s been 10 years since ‘Brokeback Mountain’ and Jake Gyllenhaal has some inspiring words re: how much things have changed
Time is WILD, because somehow, it’s been a whopping ten years since Brokeback Mountain hit theaters. And in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published online Wednesday, Jake Gyllenhaal is speaking up about what it was like to play his groundbreaking role — and how Hollywood has changed in the past decade for gay actors.
When asked if there will be a time when celebrities and stars are able to be openly gay, he responded:
Of course, there are still a lot of obstacles LGBTQ people have to face, including those in Hollywood, but Jake is totally right: The times are changing, and 2015 was certainly a history-defining year.
As Jake also explains in the interview, Brokeback Mountain is a profoundly complex love story in multiple ways:
Though Jake could not have possibly predicted the success of Brokeback Mountain, he did know right from the onset that it was an amazing opportunity. “It’s one of the most beautiful scripts I’ve ever read, and it was Ang Lee, and at the time Heath [Ledger] was a friend of mine — before we even shot the movie — and always sort of alluring to me,” Jake told The Hollywood Reporter. “. . . And when that opportunity came, I was a young actor. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m in.’ I know a lot has been made of the choice to do it, but it just didn’t seem like something that was scary to me.”
Heath’s tragic passing happened eight years ago, just two years after the release of Brokeback Mountain, but his monumental personality and legacy has lived on. As Jake explained, “Heath was always somebody who I admired,” Jake said. “He was way beyond his years as a human, in a way. I wasn’t quite sure where he came from. 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.”
You can read the full transcript of the interview here.
(Image via Focus Features)
