‘Brokeback Mountain' writer reveals exact moment she knew the film would lose Best Picture Oscar
A Hollywood travesty.
'Brokeback Mountain' co-writer Diana Ossana remembers the moment she knew the gay romantic drama would lose the Oscar for Best Picture.
In a new interview with the New York Times for the film's 20th anniversary, Ossana, 75, recalled that weeks before the 2006 Oscars, after voting had closed, she went to a party for the nominees at 'Crash' director Paul Haggis' house where Clint Eastwood was one of the attendees.
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9 Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger in 'Brokeback Mountain.'
©Focus Films/Courtesy Everett Collection
Ossana 'was eager to meet' Eastwood, 95, but before they could interact, she got bad news.
'Paul started walking me over and he goes, 'Diana, I have to tell you, he hasn't seen your movie,'' Osanna told the outlet.
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9 Diana Ossana attends the 25th Annual Scripter Awards in Feb. 2013.
WireImage
9 Clint Eastwood at the 20th Annual AFI Awards in January 2020.
WireImage
'And it was like somebody kicked me in the stomach,' the screenwriter added. 'That's when I knew we would not win Best Picture.'
'Brokeback Mountain' infamously lost Best Picture to 'Crash,' despite dominating the award season up to that point and winning the Oscars for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score.
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Ossana, who co-write the film with Larry McMurtry, told the NYT that she blames homophobia for the defeat.
9 Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in 'Brokeback Mountain.'
AP Photo
'People want to deny that, but what else could it have been?' she said. 'We'd won everything up until then.'
At the time, some Academy voters including Ernest Borgnine and Tony Curtis publicly declared that they wouldn't watch the Western romance.
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'I absolutely think that block of voters kept this movie from winning Best Picture,' Osanna stated.
9 'Brokeback Mountain' screenwriters Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry accept the award for Best Screenplay at the 63rd Annual Golden Globes.
NBCUniversal via Getty Images
'Brokeback Mountain' followed two men, Ennis (Heath Ledger) and Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal), who found love despite one being married.
'Crash,' meanwhile, told the true story of a 1991 Los Angeles carjacking and starred Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Esposito, Thandiwe Newton and Matt Dillon.
9 Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal in 'Brokeback Mountain.'
©Focus Films/Courtesy Everett Collection
Michelle Williams, who played Ledger's wife in 'Brokeback Mountain,' addressed the film losing Best Picture on 'Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen' in April.
'I mean, what was Crash?' Williams, 44, joked.
9 'Crash' won Best Picture at the 2006 Academy Awards.
©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Co
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Williams was also asked if she was aware the project would make such an impact before it hit theaters.
'People were so open about it,' Williams reflected. 'I just remember doing the junket. You know, you don't really get an opportunity to see a lot of grown men cry. That was the moment that I think that we all knew it was going to be special to people.'
9 Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger in 'Brokeback Mountain.'
Focus Films/Everett Collection
Lee, 70, similarly reflected on the snub to Deadline last month.
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'Your guess is as good as mine,' the director said. 'There are times when I feel like there's an unlimited willingness to watch the movie. There's so much love for it. Generally, you feel like it's a breakthrough, that it broke all barriers. People seem to melt down. And you cannot even define it as gay cinema. It's not gay cinema, right? It's a love story.'
9 Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in 'Brokeback Mountain.'
©Focus Films/Courtesy Everett Collection
But Lee did clarify that he's moved on from the film not winning Best Picture.
'I'm nothing but grateful. I have no bitterness,' he shared.
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