Prior to The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger had appeared in half a dozen films that were lacking critical support or commercial appeal.
Consider: Ned Kelly, The Order, Lords of Dogstown.
Thus, in Brokeback Mountain, the role of the reticent cowboy, with repressed emotions and suppressed homosexual desire for Jake Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), represented a challenge and opportunity to show his dramatic chops and control of his craft.
He lays a tormented man, defined by passion and anger, desire and repression.
“I was not doing anything that was testing me, and I got bored. I was ready to earn my career and start over.”
I am not doing a movie unless it means something to me
“It’s good to feel like you gave blood, sweat and tears to something. Brokeback Mountain changed my perspective. I am not doing a movie unless it means something to me. Nothing scares me anymore.”
