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Cowriter knew Brokeback Mountain would lose Oscar after meeting Clint Eastwood
Jake Gyllenhaal as Jack and Heath Ledger as Ennis in Brokeback Mountain; Clint Eastwood at an event.
The acclaimed film is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
When Brokeback Mountain was released twenty years ago, it won numerous awards, but cowriter Diana Ossana recalls the moment she realized the film would ultimately lose the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2006.
Ossana, who co-wrote the film with Larry McMurtry, based on a short story by Annie Proulx, told The New York Times that she remembers exactly when she knew the film wouldn't be taking home the Academy Award's biggest prize.
According to Ossana, she attended a party for Academy Award nominees weeks before the award show (but after voting had already ended). At the party, Crash director Paul Haggis introduced her to Million Dollar Baby director Clint Eastwood.
"Paul started walking me over, and he goes, 'Diana, I have to tell you, he hasn't seen your movie,'" the corwriter said. "And it was like somebody kicked me in the stomach. That's when I knew we would not win Best Picture."
Ossana also felt like homophobia within Hollywood was a huge factor on why the film didn't win Best Picture. "People want to deny that, but what else could it have been?" she said. "We'd won everything up until then."
Brokeback Mountain was one of the most critically acclaimed and celebrated films of 2005, winning Best Picture at the BAFTAs, Golden Globes, Critics' Choice Awards, Independent Spirit Awards, and GLAAD Awards, among others. However, it famously lost the Best Picture award at the Oscars to Crash in one of the most controversial Oscar ceremonies ever.
Brokeback Mountain, directed by Ang Lee and starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with a theatrical rerelease via Focus Features.
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
