Michelle Williams swung by “Watch What Happens Live” on Thursday and learning that “Brokeback Mountain” — the 2005 cowboy romance that earned her her first Oscar nomination — is one of host Andy Cohen’s favorite movies, took part in some light ribbing of the often-maligned race drama that beat it at the Oscars for Best Picture, “Crash.”
“I was very upset about the Best Picture loss,” Cohen said. “I mean, ‘Crash’? Is that what won?”
“I mean, what was ‘Crash’?” Williams questioned slyly.
Cohen, energized by the light shade, responded: “Right, thank you! By the way, who’s talking about ‘Crash’ right now? I hear a pin drop. Yes, very upset.”
The conversation began with Williams, visiting the Bravo talk show studio in promotion of her new FX sex dramedy “Dying for Sex,” reflecting on the significance “Brokeback Mountain” had at the time of its release for telling a gay love story set in the American West and centered on two cowhands who intermittently spent their years together on Brokeback Mountain while their wives — played by Williams and Anne Hathaway — toiled at home. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal starred.
“May I gush to you about what an important movie ‘Brokeback Mountain’ was to me? And it is still, I think, in my top two movies of all time,” Cohen began. “Did you realize at the time that you were making that what a profound impact it was going to have on people?”
Williams said she realized the Ang Lee film’s power when she began doing press for it and would see grown men crying at the junkets.
“Yes, because people were so open about it,” she said. “And the, you know, I just remember doing the junket. You don’t really get an opportunity to see a lot of grown men cry. And it was really, that was the moment that I think that we all knew that it was going to be special to people.”
Watch the full “Watch What Happens Live” segment below:
“Brokeback Mountain” was nominated for eight Academy Awards going into the 2006 ceremony, and ultimately went home with two, including Best Director for Lee and Best Adapted Screenplay for Larry McMurtry. Considered a frontrunner for Best Picture, the movie ultimately lost to a surprise win from Paul Haggis’ “Crash,” a narratively complex race drama that depicts the intersecting lives of various men and women living in Los Angeles.
“Crash” went into the 2006 Oscars with six nominations, winning three for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing. It starred Matt Dillon, Don Cheadle, Thandiwe Newton, Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraser and others.
