Brokeback Mountain is classic, an award-winner and truly an iconic film. The 2005 drama could have turned out completely different says Josh Hartnett.
In an interview with news.com.au, Josh opened up about stepping away from life in Hollywood, and revealed he almost starred in Brokeback Mountain, but ultimately turned it down.
The 43-year old actor says, “Unfortunately, I was going to do Brokeback Mountain, And I had a contract with [The Black Dahlia] that I had to film, so I had to drop out of it.” He shared that the movie first had Hartnett starring alongside Joaquin Phoenix before it ended up with Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in lead roles. The actor claimed ,”It was a different film altogether,”
The actor has turned down many career defining roles including the iconic role of Superman and an offer from Christopher Nolan for Batman. It was clear that Josh wanted to break free of the path to stardom that Hollywood had laid out for him.
He shared there were a few catalysts- journalists who were less kind to celebrities back then. Actors had no outlets like Twitter or Instagram to share their own version of things. He says, “you were at the mercy of journalists really, unless you played that game very cleverly.” This prompted the star to pack his bags and head back home to Minnesota.