Ang Lee on Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams falling in love on the set of
Brokeback Mountain:
“Well, it started happening shortly after rehearsal. I know Heath had just broken up with Naomi [Watts]. And of course, I kept pushing him towards Jake (laughs). I don’t know what I did.
"I have to tell a story about how serious an actress Michelle is. The first kissing scene by the staircase, that’s the first kissing scene that we did. It was like the first week of shooting with Jake. So, the guys worked out and I was happy. The guys were exhausted from the different
angles we shot it. Then we turn around to shoot Michelle’s reaction. So, we talk about how she was crushed, she was blank, she doesn’t know what hits her. It takes the rest of the movie to see how pissed she is, everything. And so the guys were down there sort of leaning on each other for her to look at and she wanted them to start kissing and mess around. She could hardly see them (laughing)! They were just there to help her. So they started necking and she was not happy about it. Then they started kissing and she was like, 'Come on guys, I need it!' I was very impressed. And when I see on the monitor her face, that one moment… Again, no dialogue. And it’s very hard to show what she thinks. But I just think, for one second it’s really worth it."
Director Ang Lee Talks About "Brokeback Mountain"