Oscar-nominated actor Randy Quaid alleges he was underpaid for his supporting role in "Brokeback Mountain," according to a $10 million lawsuit he filed Thursday against the film's producers.Quaid, 55, claims producers James Schamus and David Linde, through Focus Features and Del Mar Productions, convinced him to be in the award-winning film for "effectively a donation of his time" by "falsely representing it as a low-budget, art house film, with no prospect of making any money."
A message left with a representative for Focus Features, seeking comment on the allegations, was not immediately returned.
Quaid played the rancher who gives jobs to Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Ennis del Mar (Heath Ledger), the cowboys who fall in love in the film.
According to his Los Angeles Superior Court complaint, Quaid has a long history of appearing "at reduced rates" in experimental, non-mainstream films for art's sake, as opposed to their likelihood to be a box office hit.
However, he contends he was misled because the film allegedly always was planned as a larger-budget movie that would be given a worldwide release and supported as a studio picture.
Quaid actor is seeking at least $10 million in damages on claims that include intentional and negligent misrepresentation.
Quaid's other credits include "Independence Day," "Kingpin," "The Ice Harvest," "Elvis," and the upcoming "Goya's Ghosts." He received a best supporting actor Academy Award nomination for the 1973 film "The Last Detail."
from CBS2 Los Angeles
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