Heartwarming reason why Heath Ledger 'refused' to present an award at the Oscars

Hearing tales of Heath Ledger just breaks my heart, the world generally lost a great man.

I'm not sure we'll ever get over the losses of him, Robin Williams and Steve Irwin.

The Australian actor was only 28 when he died of acute intoxication on January 2 2008, believed to have been caused by an accidental overdose of prescribed medication.

But just two years previous he gave a heartwarming reason to his co-star of Brokeback Mountain Jake Gyllenhaal why he outright 'refused' to present an award at the Oscars.

The pair had just finished starring in the film which was way ahead of its time.

We've all heard about Brokeback Mountain but I'll quickly brief everyone on the synopsis.

It follows two cowboys - Ennis Del Mar, played by Ledger, and Gyllenhaal as Jack Twist - who develop a sexual and emotional relationship which becomes complicated when they both marry their girlfriends.

It is one heck of a gay film.

Heath Ledger and Jack Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain (Universal Pictures)

The film scooped three Academy Awards in 2006 for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Original Score - but was snubbed for Best Picture, which went to Crash.

He was then asked to present an award with Gyllenhaal on the night, making fun of their characters that they both played, but that was too far for him.

Speaking about the ordeal to Another Man magazine, Gyllenhaal said: "I mean, I remember they wanted to do an opening for the Academy Awards that year that was sort of joking about it. And Heath refused.

"I was sort of at the time, 'Oh, okay... whatever'. I'm always like, 'It's all in good fun'. And Heath said, 'It's not a joke to me - I don't want to make any jokes about it.'"

Heath Ledger pictured during a photo shoot in 2000 (Bob Riha Jr/WireImage)

He added: "That's the thing I loved about Heath. He would never joke. Someone wanted to make a joke about the story or whatever, he was like, 'No. This is about love. Like, that's it, man. Like, no.'"

What a man Ledger was.

Reacting to what Gyllenhaal said, one user took to Reddit to say: "Heath Ledger was a real f**king man. World lost a real one way too soon. RIP big dog."

A second added: "People might not understand how f***ing crazy it was for him and Jake to play gay characters in 2007."

While a third wrote: "He’s so real for that."

The Oscar-winning actor, who only landed the award after he died for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight, is certainly missed.

UNILAD has contacted the Oscars for a comment.