Did you know that Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon all refused to star in a feature film that has become cult? We reveal which one to you here!
Released in theaters in 2006, the western The Secret of Brokeback Mountain, directed by Ang Lee, tells the story of the passion experienced by two men, a rancher and a rodeo specialist, who meet in the summer of 1961 between Wyoming and Texas. In the main roles of this film for which Anne Hathaway told a huge lie in order to be in the part, we find Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.
But did you know that we could very well have seen Brad Pitt opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in this cult film crowned with three Oscars? In 2018, Gus Van Sant revealed on the IndieWire website that at the time he was attached to the project, Brokeback Mountain roles had been offered to Hollywood’s crème de la crème.
“No one wanted to make the film”declared the director of Will Hunting and Elephant. “I was working on it, and I felt like we needed a really strong cast, with famous people. Otherwise, it wouldn’t work. So I asked all the big names at the time: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Ryan Phillippe. They all said no.”
Gus Van Sant was “impatient and passionate” to the idea of filming The Secret of Brokeback Mountain, according to screenwriter and producer Diana Ossana. But the deal did not materialize and the director made his mea culpa.
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“I could have, and probably should have, looked for lesser-known actors. I shouldn’t have worried about who the leads in Brokeback Mountain would be.”declares, bitterly, the American filmmaker. “I don’t really know why, but I wasn’t ready. I guess the problem was me.”
The Secret of Brokeback Mountain, adapted from the short story by Annie Proulx, was a great commercial success with nearly $180 million in revenues garnered worldwide and more than 1.3 million spectators in attendance across the world. ‘Hexagon. The feature film won the Oscars for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Music.
Leonardo DiCaprio will appear in “Killers of the Flower Moon” on October 18: