Chapter 489: Brokeback Mountain’s Intimate Scenes—Handled by Stunt Doubles

[TL/N: Warning. Don't read the text below if you are sensitive to gay shit.]

As Leonardo gradually found his rhythm, filming progressed more smoothly.

One day, Ang Lee suddenly had the idea to shoot a scene of sheep drinking from a stream.

"Drink the water!"

"Lower your heads, hurry up and drink!"

"Damn it, aren't you thirsty?"

The herd had been driven to the creek by the hired cowboys, but instead of drinking, they just stood around, uncooperative.

Frustrated, Ang Lee found himself talking to the sheep.

The crew watching from the sidelines couldn't stop laughing.

Martin quietly asked one of the cowboys, "So, when are you going to tell him that sheep don't drink from moving water, only from ponds and reservoirs?"

The cowboy chuckled. "What, you guys don't want a day off?"

"Oh? So we have a free day?" Drew leaned in and whispered into Martin's ear, "I know a hot spring nearby."

Martin's eyes lit up. "Tell me the location. I'll head over first. You go find Anne, and you two come over later."

That evening, when Martin, Drew, and Anne returned to the lodge feeling refreshed, they were met with Leonardo's resentful glare. "You bastards really went out to have fun without me?"

Martin chuckled. "Oh, trust me, what we did wasn't something you'd want to join in on."

Leonardo instantly understood, and his expression grew even more mournful—

Damn it, I can't take this set anymore. It's just couples flaunting their love in my face every day!

Screw this, I'm going back to my room to watch some premium cable!

…

More than half a month passed.

The filming pace was steady, not too fast, not too slow, mostly because Ang Lee had too many specific ideas for shots—and because Leonardo kept needing retakes.

His performance fluctuated like waves—sometimes high, sometimes low—making Martin constantly tease him.

But Leonardo wanted to complain too! Wasn't it normal for actors to have ups and downs? The real anomaly was Martin, who somehow maintained a consistently high level at all times!

Soon, they were set to film the most critical scene—Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist's intimate moment.

Ang Lee had already shot a few kissing scenes between them to help them get into character.

For Leonardo, kissing a man on-screen wasn't that big of a deal. But an intense love scene?!

He paced alone in the hallway, mentally preparing himself over and over, trying to construct the scene in his head and find the right mindset.

Martin found it annoying and, without Leonardo noticing, subtly infused him with a tiny amount of magic.

Moments later…

Leonardo approached Ang Lee and said, "Director, I'm ready."

"Alright, let's set up for the shot."

Inside the cabin.

Leonardo looked at Martin, and suddenly, a strange thought popped into his mind—

Damn, why does Martin look so good? Maybe… maybe this wouldn't be so bad…

As Martin moved closer, Leonardo was surprised to find that he didn't feel much resistance in his heart. Looks like all that mental preparation really paid off!

Ang Lee's eyes widened.

He hadn't expected Leonardo to slip into character at such a crucial moment!

Excellent! Just excellent!

Drew Barrymore's eyes were also wide open. The scene unfolding before her was—

Hmm, I should ask Director Ang Lee for a copy of this footage later and take it home to watch slowly.

When it was all over…

Leonardo looked devastated, staring blankly at the air. What the hell did I just do?!

He turned to glare at Martin with deep resentment.

Martin shivered. Did that little bit of magic accidentally awaken something inside him?

That would be a disaster.

"Amazing, just amazing!" Ang Lee, still sweating from excitement, checked the footage and then quickly said, "Leo, Martin, since you're in the right headspace, let's film the other two love scenes right away!"

Leonardo: "..."

Martin: "Okay!"

Drew: "Ohohoho!"

To Ang Lee's complete surprise, they finished all the intimate scenes in just one day. He had expected them to take at least ten days to get through them.

This production was going way too smoothly—it was honestly thrilling. He thought once again: I really shouldn't have made Hulk.

That night, in Martin's hotel room, Drew animatedly described the day's events to Anne Hathaway.

Anne rested her chin on her hand, her eyes unfocused, clearly picturing the scene in her mind.

These two pervy women!

Martin couldn't take it anymore. He scooped them both up and tossed them onto the bed, where they soon found themselves rolling in waves of passion.

Meanwhile, in another room, Leonardo sat in front of his TV, staring blankly at the mature content playing on-screen, repeatedly questioning his own identity.

It wasn't until the middle of the night that he finally reassured himself—no, he hadn't been turned. He was still the same straight man who loved tall, blonde women.

With that realization, he let out a sigh of relief.

…

A week later, they wrapped up filming in Grand Teton National Park and prepared to move to a new location.

Drew Barrymore, as the producer, went to settle the hotel bill.

"What? Why is the final bill so high? Are you messing with me?"

"Premium channel charges?"

"Who's been watching premium channels?"

She turned around and questioned the crew.

Leonardo instinctively shrank back.

Martin, ever perceptive, immediately understood what was going on and said, "It's fine, Drew. Just pay the bill. We've been here filming with barely any entertainment—watching a little premium content is normal."

"Alright, alright… He got off easy." Drew grumbled but paid the bill.

"Martin is such a good guy," Leonardo thought to himself.

…

Back in Los Angeles, filming continued in a studio.

With their return, more visitors started dropping by the set.

Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Miranda Kerr, Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan, Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman…

Leonardo was dumbfounded. He knew Martin had a lot of women, but this many?!

"They're all your girlfriends?"

"Take a guess."

"Fuck you, you lucky dog."

Once again, Leonardo wondered—how the hell did Martin manage to keep so many women happy and coexisting peacefully?

But this time, he didn't bother asking. He already knew what Martin would say—"It's a gift."

And that was just blatant showing off. No point in feeding into it.

…

By March, between Brokeback Mountain shoots, Martin spent his free time either indulging with his collectibles or making calls to Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

In February, Yahoo had abandoned Google's search engine in favor of developing its own. As a result, Google's market share took a temporary dip.

Over the phone, Martin reassured them, "Remember, dropping Google is Yahoo's loss, not yours."

And he was right. Yahoo's attempt at independent search—Yahoo Slurp—was underwhelming at best.

While similar to Google's keyword-based indexing system, Yahoo Slurp still relied heavily on manual input, adding too many unnecessary services. It clashed with the internet's growing demand for simplicity.

After a brief downturn, Google's search volume skyrocketed again, capturing 48% of the market—leaving Yahoo far behind.

Martin had already coordinated with Larry and Sergey—Google would be going public on NASDAQ in August.