Heath Ledger "Brokeback Mountain" as a nominee for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, the "Los Angeles Times" referred to his presentation as an "apparent gay spoof". Ledger called the "Times" later and explained that his levity resulted from stage fright, saying that he had been told that he would be presenting the award only minutes earlier; he stated: "I am so sorry and I apologise for my nervousness. I would be absolutely horrified if my stage fright was misinterpreted as a lack of respect for the film, the topic and for the amazing filmmakers." Ledger was quoted in
Jake Gyllenhaal "Zodiac", which was based on a true story. He played Robert Graysmith, a "San Francisco Chronicle" political cartoonist. In preparation for his role, Gyllenhaal met Graysmith, and videotaped him to study his mannerisms and behavior. Gyllenhaal starred opposite Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin and Reese Witherspoon in the October 2007 release "Rendition", a Gavin Hood-directed political thriller about the U.S. policy of extraordinary rendition. In 2009, he appeared with Tobey Maguire in Jim Sheridan's remake of Susanne Bier's 2004 Danish language film "Brothers". In 2008, it was announced that Gyllenhaal would star in the comedy "Nailed", which he filmed in South