“He was way beyond his years as a human, in a way. “Heath was always somebody who I admired,” he continued.
“It’s one of the most beautiful scripts I’ve ever read, and it was Ang Lee, and at the time Heath was a friend of mine - before we even shot the movie - and always sort of alluring to me,” Gyllenhaal recalled. Ten years after Jake Gyllenhaal starred in the landmark Brokeback Mountain - and almost eight years after the death of co-star Heath Ledger - the actor said he had no qualms about taking the role when it came his way.