Stars Who Turned Down Roles in ‘Brokeback Mountain’: Josh Hartnett, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, More

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Stars Who Turned Down Roles in ‘Brokeback Mountain’: Josh Hartnett, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, More

A very different movie! Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal both earned Oscar nominations for their roles in Brokeback Mountain — but they weren’t the only actors considered for the complex characters. Josh Hartnett, Leonardo DiCaprio and more Hollywood A-Listers were almost cast in the memorable roles. “This is a movie about two men who fall in love. It’s very specific,” screenwriter Diana Ossana said during an April 2018 Q&A session moderated by The Wrap. “It’s about Ennis and Jack and it’s about their flaws and their mistakes and their struggles and their humanity.” In the film, cowboys Ennis Del Mar (Ledger) and Jack Twist (Gyllenhaal) develop a sexual and emotional relationship, which is only made more complicated when they get married to their respective girlfriends, Alma Beers (Michelle Williams) and Lureen Newsome (Anne Hathaway) and have children. The 2005 movie was not a “universal love story,” Ossana recalled, noting that “nobody would commit” to the lead roles. She remembered a long list of “prominent young actors” agreeing and later leaving the project during its eight-year development process. “We sent it to Edward Norton [to direct] and Joel Schumacher and dozens of people and they all came back saying they loved it, but no one would commit,” Ossana continued. “They didn’t give us any real excuse why they wouldn’t. I guess they saw it as too difficult.” [jwplayer Jgsm0Ltt-zhNYySv2] Big names, including Matt Damon and Joaquin Phoenix were at one point tied to the project when director Gus Van Sant was on board, but later fell through. Ang Lee was later chosen as the film’s director. Ossana explained that despite all of the casting ups and downs, she always wanted Ledger in the role of Ennis. “Nobody wanted Heath but me and [co-writer] Larry [McMurtry]. The studio felt he wasn’t macho enough,” she revealed. The Australia native eventually signed on after reading the script on his way home. “He told me on the set, you know, ‘It’s the most beautiful script I’ve ever read in my life, and I would’ve rowed a boat halfway around the world to meet with Ang to be in this movie,’” Ossana said. “It was a battle to get him, but boy was it worth it.” After finding its leading men, Brokeback Mountain went on to two three Academy Awards — Best Achievement in Directing, Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay and Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures. It received five more nods, including Best Motion Picture of the Year. Scroll down to see which stars almost played Ennis and Jack: [podcast_block]

Credit: Focus/Kobal/Shutterstock

Stars Who Turned Down Roles in ‘Brokeback Mountain’: Josh Hartnett, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, More

A very different movie! Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal both earned Oscar nominations for their roles in Brokeback Mountain — but they weren’t the only actors considered for the complex characters. Josh Hartnett, Leonardo DiCaprio and more Hollywood A-Listers were almost cast in the memorable roles. “This is a movie about two men who fall in love. It’s very specific,” screenwriter Diana Ossana said during an April 2018 Q&A session moderated by The Wrap. “It’s about Ennis and Jack and it’s about their flaws and their mistakes and their struggles and their humanity.” In the film, cowboys Ennis Del Mar (Ledger) and Jack Twist (Gyllenhaal) develop a sexual and emotional relationship, which is only made more complicated when they get married to their respective girlfriends, Alma Beers (Michelle Williams) and Lureen Newsome (Anne Hathaway) and have children. The 2005 movie was not a “universal love story,” Ossana recalled, noting that “nobody would commit” to the lead roles. She remembered a long list of “prominent young actors” agreeing and later leaving the project during its eight-year development process. “We sent it to Edward Norton [to direct] and Joel Schumacher and dozens of people and they all came back saying they loved it, but no one would commit,” Ossana continued. “They didn’t give us any real excuse why they wouldn’t. I guess they saw it as too difficult.” [jwplayer Jgsm0Ltt-zhNYySv2] Big names, including Matt Damon and Joaquin Phoenix were at one point tied to the project when director Gus Van Sant was on board, but later fell through. Ang Lee was later chosen as the film’s director. Ossana explained that despite all of the casting ups and downs, she always wanted Ledger in the role of Ennis. “Nobody wanted Heath but me and [co-writer] Larry [McMurtry]. The studio felt he wasn’t macho enough,” she revealed. The Australia native eventually signed on after reading the script on his way home. “He told me on the set, you know, ‘It’s the most beautiful script I’ve ever read in my life, and I would’ve rowed a boat halfway around the world to meet with Ang to be in this movie,’” Ossana said. “It was a battle to get him, but boy was it worth it.” After finding its leading men, Brokeback Mountain went on to two three Academy Awards — Best Achievement in Directing, Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay and Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures. It received five more nods, including Best Motion Picture of the Year. Scroll down to see which stars almost played Ennis and Jack: [podcast_block]

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Mark Wahlberg

"I met with Ang Lee on that movie, I read 15 pages of the script and got a little creeped out," the Ted star said during a 2007 interview. "It was very graphic, descriptive — the spitting on the hand, getting ready to do the thing.”

Wahlberg recalled telling Lee, “You're a talented guy” whom he would continue to talk more with about the role if he really wanted him to star in it. “Thankfully, he didn't ... I didn't rush to see Brokeback, it's just not my deal,” the actor added. “Obviously, it was done in taste — look how it was received."

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Brad Pitt

"Nobody wanted to do it," Van Sant, who was the director on the film before stepping back, told IndieWire in July 2018. He pointed to Pitt as one of the actors who reportedly turned down the job. "I was working on it, and I felt like we needed a really strong cast, like a famous cast. That wasn't working out,” he added.

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Leonardo DiCaprio

Van Sant named the Titanic star as one of the “usual suspects” he asked to be in the 2005 film but didn’t accept.

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Matt Damon

The former Brokeback Mountain director also claimed that Damon “said no” to starring in the drama.

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Ryan Philippe

The Shooter alum was one of Van Sant’s top four actors who he recalled turning down the opportunity. "Yes, all those young gentlemen [at the time] turned down the project, for various reasons,” Ossana confirmed to IndieWire.

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Josh Hartnett

The Pearl Harbor star told Australia’s News.com.au in December 2021 that he was set to play Ennis but had a scheduling conflict, so he had to leave the film.

"Unfortunately, I was going to do Brokeback Mountain. I had a contract with The Black Dahlia that I had to film, so I had to drop out of it,” he explained. “It was a different film altogether; it was me and Joaquin Phoenix. But they went on to do it with Heath and Jake.”

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Joaquin Phoenix

Hartnett revealed in December 2021 that Phoenix was supposed to play the Jack to his Ennis before they both walked away from the project. "I always wanted to kiss Joaquin," Hartnett joked. "So that's my biggest regret."