Heath Ledger’s miserable time on ‘Brokeback’

It has been revealed that the late Australian actor Heath Ledger was miserable on the sets of ‘Brokeback Mountain’ because director Ang Lee treated him like an ‘alienated prop.’

Ledger who died last January of a tragic accidental drug overdose recently deservingly won a Golden Globe for ‘Batman: The Dark Knight’.

Producer James Schamus and British filmmaker Terry Gilliam have both recalled in the ‘Entertainment Weekly’ magazine how Heath had a difficult time filming the movie which won him an Academy nomination for his potrayal of gay cowboy Ennis Del Mar.

Gilliam has said, "He felt alone and isolated. Whatever it did, it produced an extraordinary performance."

Schamus added, "During casting, rehearsals, and pre-production, Ang (Lee) is like the warm, wise, cuddly daddy bear. The minute he yells ‘Action’ on the first shot, the actors become alienated props he kind of puts up with. It’s tough on actors. Heath had very difficult days. You could really feel the pain he was going through."

Whatever it was, but the gifted actor surely gave memorable performances, before going away way too soon.

-Sampurn Media