Arts & Entertainment
‘Brokeback Mountain’ almost starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt
Matt Damon, Ryan Phillippe also turned down the roles
Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in ‘Brokeback Mountain’ (Screenshot via YouTube)
Director Gus Van Sant dropped the names of actors who rejected the lead roles in “Brokeback Mountain,” including Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, in an interview with IndieWire.
Before Ang Lee came on board as the director of the 2005 gay love story, Van Sant was attached to the project. He admitted to IndieWire that finding big name actors for the film was a struggle.
“Nobody wanted to do it,” Van Sant said. “I was working on it, and I felt like we needed a really strong cast, like a famous cast. That wasn’t working out. I asked the usual suspects: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Ryan Phillippe. They all said no.”
“What I could have done, and what I probably should have done, was cast more unknowns, not worried about who were the lead actors,” he went on. “I was not ready. I’m not sure why. There was just sort of a hiccup on my part. There was something off with myself, I guess, whatever was going on.”
Diana Ossana, who served as producer and screenwriter for”Brokeback Mountain,” confirmed Van Sant’s claims in an email to IndieWire.
“Yes, all those young gentlemen (at the time) turned down the project, for various reasons,” she wrote.
The roles of Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar would eventually go to Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, respectively. Lee would go on to win Best Director at the 2006 Academy Awards. Ossana and co-writer Larry McMurtry also took home Best Adapted Screenplay.
Celebrity News
Madonna announces release date for new album
‘Confessions II’ marks return to the dance floor
Pop icon Madonna on Wednesday announced that her 15th studio album will be released on July 3.
Titled “Confessions II,” the new album is a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” an Abba and disco-infused hit.
The new album reunites Madonna with producer Stuart Price, who also helmed the original “Confessions” album. It’s her first album of new material since 2019’s “Madame X.”
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna said in a press release. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people,” continued the statement. “Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions. Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI
‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.
Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.
“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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