Ledger is a talent on many levels, from his obvious acting skills to his lesser-known status as a go-kart prodigy. For him, providing a realistic and respectful picture of strange relationships is very important, and he takes the role very seriously, even helping Jake Gyllenhaal to realize the gravity of the subject matter they are dealing with.
When it comes to love scenes, Ledger just does what comes naturally to him with a little bit of preparation, as he explains on E! Online interview:
“I don’t think there’s any real preparation. You know, unlike my character, I’m a huge fan of love, and I’m in love with love, and I’ve been investigating love, and you know I’m very expressive, and all. I know how to feel. love. Whether it’s love that’s, like, trapped and inexpressible, I have a deep understanding of it. And if it’s kissing someone, that too. I know how to kiss someone, I know how to love someone, so I can – you just do the same thing but with a different person, with a guy. But you just – you know how to kiss someone, so just do it.”
For Ledger, he didn’t think of it as a “gay” love scene, as many actors must have at the time. He simply sees it as another love scene in which he depicts a complex, layered human being, experiencing the emotions he himself experienced at one point. “Brokeback Mountain” may not stand out as a radical part of queer filmmaking by today’s standards, but thanks to elements like Heath Ledger’s performance, the floodgates opened up for an entire generation of queer storytelling.