Josh Hartnett regrets that he was not able to star in Brokeback Mountain alongside Joaquin Phoenix. The 2005 romantic western, directed by Ang Lee, starred Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as two cowboys in the 1960s who embark on a love affair that spans two decades and takes an emotional toll on both of them. The film broke storytelling barriers on the complex love story between two men while generating multiple controversies. Both Ledger and Gyllenhaal received Oscar nominations, and its Oscar loss for Best Picture is considered one of the most egregious injustices in awards history.
Hartnett has had a long, successful career in film and television, achieving early fame with his roles working with Ridley Scott and Michael Bay in the 2001 war movies, Black Hawk Down and Pearl Harbor, which were two of the biggest runaway successes that year at the box office. He then went on to star in films like Sin City and The Black Dahlia, while later being known for his main role in the horror drama, Penny Dreadful, for three seasons and his recent movie, Ida Red. It turns out that Hartnett could have landed another successful movie in the rise of his career.
Per EW, Hartnett says he wishes he could have starred in Brokeback Mountain, revealing in an interview with the Australian News.com.au, that he was cast in the film, before having to drop out of the part due to his contract with The Black Dahlia. Hartnett also disclosed that Joaquin Phoenix was attached to the film the same time he was, joking that it would have been great to have a co-star like Phoenix alongside him, specifically in this movie. Hartnett jokes, “I was going to do Brokeback Mountain…I’ve always wanted to kiss Joaquin. So that’s my biggest regret.”
With film actors as popular and in-demand like Hartnett and Phoenix, sometimes the large amount of movies and commitments prevents them from doing other projects. At the time, Phoenix also starred as Johnny Cash in Walk The Line, which garnered him an Oscar nomination in the same year as Brokeback Mountain. While Hartnett did not disclose which part of the romantic duo he was going to play in the film, it would have been interesting to see him and Phoenix in those roles, especially their chemistry given Hartnett’s comments.
Brokeback Mountain is now considered one of the greatest romantic films in this time and a significant turning point for the evolution of storytelling. In 2005, very few movies and shows put LGBTQ+ characters at the center of the story, instead having them being portrayed as side characters. The film continues to affect viewers and generate emotional discussions, and while Hartnett was not able to star in it with Phoenix, he can be glad that it has had a large impact.
