History Trivia / BrokebackMountain

* CompletelyDifferentTitle: in Latin America the film is named ''Secreto en la Montaña'' (Secret in the Mountain) and in Spain the film is named ''En Terreno Vedado'' (On Off-limits Ground).

--->"Gus, I did [[Film/TheTalentedMrRipley a gay movie]], then [[Film/AllThePrettyHorses a cowboy movie]]. I can't follow it up with [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs a gay-cowboymovie]]!"

--->"Gus, I did [[Film/TheTalentedMrRipley a gay movie]], then [[Film/AllThePrettyHorses a cowboy movie]]. I can't follow it up with a gay-cowboy movie!"

* DiedDuringProduction: Editor Geraldine Peroni (best known for working with Creator/RobertAltman) passed away before she could finish her work on this film. It was completed by her former assistant editor Dylan Tichenor (later of ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'' fame). Both were then nominated for the UsefulNotes/{{BAFTA}} for Best Editing.

* NamesTheSame: Brooklynn Proulx, who plays Jenny at age four, is not actually related to the author Annie Proulx.

* CreatorPreferredAdaptation: Annie Proulx approved of the film, saying that Heath Ledger was exactly as she'd pictured Ennis.

* AuthorExistenceFailure: Editor Geraldine Peroni (best known for working with Creator/RobertAltman) passed away before she could finish her work on this film. It was completed by her former assistant editor Dylan Tichenor (later of ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'' fame). Both were then nominated for the UsefulNotes/{{BAFTA}} for Best Editing.

* NasalTrauma: While filming the reunion, Jake's nose was nearly broken from Heath kissing him so hard.

** When Gus Van Sant was going to direct, he offered Creator/MattDamon the role of Ennis. He turned it down, saying:

* BigNameFan: One of Creator/DanielDayLewis' favourite films. After Creator/HeathLedger's death, he dedicated his SAG Award for ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'' to Heath's memory.

* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: Screenwriters Diana Ossana and Larry =McMurtry= bought the screen adaptation rights just days after the short story was published in October 1997 (Annie Proulx strongly doubted that the story would work as a film, but she agreed to let them attempt it), and they completed the screenplay within a few months. After passing from one production team to the next (and being known as "the greatest un-produceable screenplay" going around) for six years, filming finally began in spring 2004, and the film was released nearly two years later.

* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: Screenwriters Diana Ossana and Larry [McMurtry] bought the screen adaptation rights just days after the short story was published in October 1997 (Annie Proulx strongly doubted that the story would work as a film, but she agreed to let them attempt it), and they completed the screenplay within a few months. After passing from one production team to the next (and being known as "the greatest un-produceable screenplay" going around) for six years, filming finally began in spring 2004, and the film was released nearly two years later.

* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: Screenwriters Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry bought the screen rights just days after the short story was published in October 1997 (Annie Proulx strongly doubted that the story would work as a film, but she agreed to let them attempt it), and they completed the screenplay within a few months. After passing from one production team to the next (and being known as "the greatest un-produceable screenplay" going around) for six years, filming finally began in spring 2004, and the film was released nearly two years later.

* NasalTrauma: While filming the reunion, Gyllenhaal's nose was nearly broken from Ledger kissing him so hard.

* AwardCategoryFraud: The film gives a lot of screentime to both Creator/HeathLedger's and Creator/JakeGyllenhaal's characters, as the film covers their romance and how their lives drift off in parallel fashion during their years apart. As such, one could argue that Ennis and Jack are equally important to the story as protagonists. However, Ledger was put in the Leading Actor category, and Gyllenhaal in the Supporting Actor category, all through the awards season, because Ledger's character has just a bit more emphasis and the two actors didn't have to compete against each other.

* ActorInspiredElement: When Ennis finds his and Jack's shirts hanging in their childhood closet, Ennis's is tucked inside Jack's. At the end [[spoiler:when Ennis takes them home]], they are reversed. This was Creator/HeathLedger's idea.

* ActingInTheDark: Creator/AnneHathaway claims she doesn't know if Lureen [[spoiler: is lying when she tells Ennis how Jack died]]. There were two takes filmed with differing motivations, and parts from both of them were edited together in the final film.
* ActorInspiredElement: When Ennis finds his and Jack's shirts hanging in their childhood closet, Ennis's is tucked inside Jack's. [[spoiler: At the end when Ennis takes them home]], they are reversed. This was Heath Ledger's idea.

* BeamMeUpScotty: The film's SignatureLine is "I wish I ''knew how to'' quit you.", not "I wish I could quit you." or "I can't quit you.".

* CreatorBacklash: [[http://leegoldberg.typepad.com/a_writers_life/2008/10/fanfic-makes-proulx-regret-writing-brokeback-mountain.html Annie Proulx has expressed regret over the story]], if only for fans who send "[[FanFic ghastly manuscripts]] and [[RuleThirtyFour pornish rewrites]] of the story to me, expecting me to reply with praise and applause for [[FixFic 'fixing' the story...]]".

* DeletedScene: They filmed a sequence where Jack and Ennis help a group of hippies get their car out of a river. WordOfGod was that they wanted to show Jack and Ennis in a heroic situation. The sequence was disliked by nearly everyone - as it doesn't appear in the original story or the screenplay - and got cut from the final film.

* FakeAmerican: Heath Ledger (Australian) as Ennis.

* NeverWorkWithChildrenOrAnimals: Creator/AngLee had already sworn off ever making another movie featuring sheep after horrible experiences making ''Film/SenseAndSensibility''... and apparently they were even worse here.
* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/AnneHathaway as Lureen; this was one of several roles that moved her away from the ContractualPurity reputation she had at the time. Anne's agent even decided not to mention her work in ''Film/ThePrincessDiaries'' or ''Film/EllaEnchanted'', and introduced her to Ang Lee as a New York City Broadway actress. He hadn't seen any of her work beforehand and cast her based on her audition.
* RomanceOnTheSet: Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams fell in love on the set, and their daughter Matilda was born just before the film premiered.

-->Gus, I did [[Film/TheTalentedMrRipley a gay movie]], then [[Film/AllThePrettyHorses a cowboy movie]]. I can't follow it up with a gay-cowboy movie!

* BigNameFan: One of Creator/DanielDayLewis' favourite films. After Creator/HeathLedger's death, he dedicated his SAG Award
for ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'' to Heath's memory.

* ActingInTheDark: Anne Hathaway claims she doesn't know if Lureen [[spoiler: is lying when she tells Ennis how Jack died]]. There were two takes filmed with differing motivations, and parts from both of them were edited together in the final film.

* BigNameFan: One of Daniel Day Lewis's favourite films. After Heath Ledger's death, he dedicated his SAG Award for ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'' to Heath's memory.

* EnforcedMethodActing: In order to get into character and really show Alma's anguish over Ennis's infidelity with Jack, Creator/MichelleWilliams asked Creator/HeathLedger, who she was dating at the time, and Creator/JakeGyllenhaal to make out behind the camera so her emotional anguish would be realistic. When they weren't passionate enough, she yelled at them.

* NeverWorkWithChildrenOrAnimals: Ang Lee had already sworn off ever making another movie featuring sheep after horrible experiences making ''Film/SenseAndSensibility''... and apparently they were even worse here.

* PlayingGertrude: Heath Ledger was only four years older than Kate Mara, who played his daughter as a teenager. Granted he's supposed to be in his forties at this point in the film.

** They filmed a sequence where Jack and Ennis help a group of hippies get their car out of a river. WordOfGod was that they wanted to show Jack and Ennis in a heroic situation. The sequence was disliked by nearly everyone - as it doesn't appear in the original story or the screenplay - and got cut from the final film.
** Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix were considered for the leads in the film. Although the former was interested, he found the script too sexually graphic, and turned it down. Joseph Gordon Levitt was also heavily considered for the role of Ennis.
** Anne Hathaway was sent the script with the role of Alma in mind. But when she read it, she decided she'd rather audition for Lureen instead.