Jake Gyllenhaal reflects on 'Brokeback Mountain': 'It was very important to both of us to break that stigma'

Brokeback Mountain was a cinematic phenomenon when it premiered in 2005, winning three Oscars amongst its eight nominations, such as a best actor nod for the late Heath Ledger and one for Jake Gyllenhaal in the best supporting actor category.

If the Ang Lee-directed romantic drama were made now, Gyllenhaal was asked recently by The Sunday Times, would there be a "different reaction" to two straight men portraying lovers rather than LGBTQ+ actors?

"I don't know. Maybe?" Gyllenhaal responded (h/t Insider). "Part of the medicine of storytelling is that we were two straight guys playing these parts. There was a stigma about playing a part like that, you know, why would you do that? And I think it was very important to both of us to break that stigma. But then again, I think that has led the way towards people saying, you know, people of all different experiences should be playing more roles, that it shouldn't be limited to a small group of people. And I believe that."

Gyllenhaal has reflected on Brokeback Mountain several times before, including the below TODAY interview and GQ career retrospective from summer 2019: