Heath Ledger has had some interesting romantic co-stars recently. In "The Brothers Grimm," the incredibly sexy Monica Bellucci attempts to seduce him. The fact she was playing an evil queen trying to resurrect herself at his expense wasn't a distraction.

"Look, it became difficult just looking out of my glasses. They were fogging up, she's so beautiful," Ledger says of the Italian icon. "She was actually nibbling on my ear. I got contact! [Laughs.] She's amazing and such an incredible presence when she turned up on set. She was like so regal and was so down to earth."

Ledger then segued into "Brokeback Mountain" where his love interest was played by ... Jake Gyllenhaal. It's a role that he says scared him "s***less."

"The idea I had to make out with Jake ... just wasn't the easiest thing to do," Ledger says. Though having current (and pregnant) girlfriend Michelle Williams on the set must have eased some of his stress.

The western features Gyllenhaal and Ledger as modern cowboys who meet in the early '60s and forge a secret lifelong romance. It's a script legendary writer Larry McMurtry ("Lonesome Dove") has tried to produce for quite some time. With Ang Lee onboard to direct, the movie has become one of the more intriguing end of the year releases.

"It is a beautiful story, a beautiful script," Ledger says. "It was definitely a real sense of accomplishment once I finished. I had so much fear for the project and the story and, you know, had to be brave. I definitely came out thinking, '[Expletive], I can do anything,' you know?"

With Oliver Stone admitting that he edited out a majority of the bisexual scenes in "Alexander" for its DVD release, is "Brokeback" going to be an honest portrayal of a gay romance?

"I mean, look, there's enough," Ledger says, obviously uncomfortable discussing the subject. "You'll be pleased I think. We're not dry humping each other in every scene. It's a beautiful love story, it really is, and we've definitely pushed the envelope."

According to Ledger, the on-screen romance wasn't the only difficult part of the production.

"I had to do some things I've never done before ... like the aging process," the 26-year-old says. "There's not a lot of [physical] change between the age of 18 and 40, really. So, I staged my accent in pitches, so it was higher when I was younger and deeper when I was older and I tried to make it subtle."

In an attempt to alleviate some of the pressure off Ledger and perhaps lighten the mood a bit, Matt Damon steps in with one last story.

"That's a beautiful script, I read it years ago," Damon says. "In fact, I was gonna do it. Gus Van Sant read it and wanted to do it after 'Good Will Hunting.' I read it and loved it. But, I was going off to do 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' and then 'All the Pretty Horses.' So I said, 'Gus, I'm going to do a movie about, quite frankly, a guy who's gay, and then I'm going to do a movie about a cowboy. I shouldn't then just do a gay cowboy movie." [Laughs.]

Instead, Damon's "Grimm" co-star stepped into those boots. Whether the movie succeeds or fails, Ledger has most certainly earned the respect of actors like Damon for taking it.

"Brokeback Mountain" opens in limited release on December 9.