Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal featured in 2005’s Brokeback Mountain, where the two played the roles of cowboys who romance each other in the mountains of Wyoming. Directed by Ang Lee, the movie found amazing chemistry between the two stars, and the performance by Heath Ledger is still evident in the audience’s mind.

The movie went on to become a commercial success but also had to face negative press and criticism for its LGBTQ subject matter. Ang Lee also went on to bag an Oscar for directing the movie featuring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Even after the passing of Heath Ledger, his co-actor from Brokeback Mountain has all words of praise for him.

Jake Gyllenhaal recalled working with Heath Ledger and how things got a little rough during one particular love-making scene when Ledger nearly broke Gyllenhaal’s nose. On sharing the experience, Gyllenhaal says, “Heath almost broke my nose in a kissing scene. He grabs me and he slams me up against the wall and kisses me. And then I grab him and I slam him up against the wall and I kiss him.”

Gyllenhaal explains that the scene had multiple takes where they fought each other. He adds, “we were doing take after take after take. I got the s**t beat out of me. We had other scenes where we fought each other and I wasn’t hurting as badly as I did after that one.”

In another conversation with Empire, the director recalled shooting with both the stars and revealed he sent them to a cowboy camp. He explained that Heath Ledger was “natural” as he grew up on a ranch in Australia. The director later adds, “He didn’t need to do a lot of the work, but he took the training in good faith. He was so good with animals, too. When he sat on that horse, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind. He was a cowboy.”