Michelle Williams (actress) to the comedic genre with "The Baxter", in which she played a geeky secretary. The film received negative reviews; Wesley Morris of "The Boston Globe" wrote, "Only when Williams is around does the movie seem human, true, and funny. Even in her slapstick, there's pain." As with her other films during this period, it only received a limited release and was not widely seen. Williams gained wider recognition later in 2005 when she appeared in Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain", about the romance between two men, Ennis and Jack (played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, respectively). Impressed with her performance
Moulin Rouge! In this way, Christian would appear to the other characters to be ahead-of-his-time as a musician and writer. Leonardo DiCaprio, who worked with Luhrmann on "Romeo + Juliet", auditioned for the role of Christian. Luhrmann also considered younger actors for the role, including Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal before Ewan McGregor won the part. Courtney Love auditioned for the role of Satine and assisted in clearing licensing rights for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" to be used in the film. Production began in November 1999 and was completed in May 2000, with a budget of $52.5 million. Filming generally went smoothly,