Flash points where player meets part

HEATH LEDGER

“Brokeback Mountain”

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THE first scene Heath Ledger shot was the hardest -- and it’s one of the most wrenching in “Brokeback Mountain.” Over dishes after a depressing Thanksgiving, his ex-wife, played by his real-life girlfriend, Michelle Williams, confronts him with the knowledge that she knows about his affair with his friend Jack Twist, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. It’s a shocking moment in the film, one in which a lifetime of charades is suddenly dropped and the wounds of both parties exposed.

“We’re both in our late 30s and 40s [in that scene], and I know the differences are subtle, but if that’s the first thing you’re going to shoot, you have to have the story that happens before already played out in your head,” says Ledger, 26. “I guess that’s why Ang scheduled it that way, he forced us into studying harder.”

Ledger says much of his work for the role of Ennis Del Mar was done in preproduction, through long conversations with director Ang Lee, who’s well known for barely speaking to the actors once filming begins in earnest. Lee was keen on teaching Ledger how “to capture stillness” -- one of Del Mar’s signature traits -- which was hard for Ledger, who can get twitchy. “Sometimes I find it hard sitting still, usually when I’m in the spotlight or even in rehearsal. My nervous energy comes streaking out of my fingertips. My hands go all over the place.”

Conversely, Del Mar’s sadness was not that hard for the actor to find. “I felt like I have an understanding of what it feels like to be sad, to suppress your sadness or ignore it, or deny it -- denial in general. One way or another, I understand all of those things in myself or people. It was such a deep sadness and such deep loneliness -- it was easier. I could bury a lot and go deeper within. You can just sit there in your own world.”

In the pivotal confrontation, Del Mar has to break through that hard carapace he carries around. Afterward, Ledger says, he was “revved up. My heart was racing. I felt bad. I had to go out and raise my fists into the face of Michelle. But that part washes away. It was exciting that the [filming of the] movie started with such an explosion. Every scene after that becomes easier and easier.”

-- Rachel Abramowitz