Jake Gyllenhaal has claimed the late Heath Ledger snubbed an offer to present at the Oscars.
The pair were asked to be involved in an opening for the 2007 Academy Awards that made fun of their movie ‘Brokeback Mountain’ and while the 39-year-old actor was happy to take the sketch "in good fun", his co-star – who died from an accidental overdose in January 2008 – refused to be involved because he didn’t think the subject of the movie was something to joke about.
Jake told Another Man magazine: "I mean, I remember they wanted to do an opening for the Academy Awards that year that was sort of joking about it.
"And Heath refused. I was sort of at the time, ‘Oh, okay… whatever.’ I’m always like: it’s all in good fun. And Heath said, ‘It’s not a joke to me–I don’t want to make any jokes about it.’
"That’s the thing I loved about Heath. He would never joke. Someone wanted to make a joke about the story or whatever, he was like, ‘No. This is about love. Like, that’s it, man. Like, no.’"
Jake admitted the chemistry between himself and Heath and why they were cast by director Ang Lee in the 2005 romance is still a "mystery" to him.
He said: There are things you’re chosen for – a quality, an essence – and [Ang Lee] did that.
"And it’s still a mystery to me. And something that Heath and I shared: that it was a mystery to us at the time,"
The ‘Nocturnal Animals’ star admitted he can get "obsessive" with his work and doesn’t always feel he behaves like an "actor is supposed to be".
He said: "I am super-specific, I am obsessive sometimes when I’m creating things.
"I think I’ve hidden a lot. Like, ‘I’m gonna hide, and then I’ll create these characters and I’ll tinker in the corner with these ideas…’ I hid in my idea of what I thought an actor was supposed to be, what they’re supposed to do. And I’m kind of like: ‘F**k it, I’m not like that at all.’"
Jake Gyllenhaal: Heath Ledger snubbed Oscars
