Michelle Williams shades ‘Crash’ 20 years after ‘Brokeback Mountain’ Oscars upset

Michelle Williams has saddled up some shade for Paul Haggis’ 2005 drama Crash, 19 years after the controversial film won Best Picture at the 2006 Oscars over the actress’ critically acclaimed, Ang Lee-directed gay cowboy romance Brokeback Mountain.

The star appeared Thursday on Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live talk show to promote her new TV series Dying for Sex, with the host sharing “what an important movie Brokeback Mountain” was to him and so many others at the time of its 2005 release.

“I think it’s still in my top two movies of all time. Did you realize at the time you were making that, what a profound impact it was going to have on people?” Cohen asked Williams, who starred in the film opposite Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, quickly replied, “Yes, because people were so open about it. I remember doing the junket, you don’t get an opportunity to see a lot of grown men cry, and that was the moment I think that we all knew it was going to be special to people.”

Cohen then brought up the fact that Crash, which tackled issues of racism and societal tension via interconnected narratives in Los Angeles, won Best Picture over Brokeback Mountain at the 2006 Academy Awards, though many speculated at the time that the latter would sweep the ceremony after it won Best Film at the BAFTA Awards, Best Picture at the Critics Choice Awards, and Best Motion Picture — Drama at the Golden Globes.

“I was very upset about the Best Picture loss. I mean, Crash? Is that what won?” Cohen asked, with Williams replying with a shady question of her own: “I mean, what was Crash?”

The audience chuckled as Williams flashed a confused look on her face, while Cohen continued to speak.

“Thank you, I mean, who’s talking about Crash right now?” Cohen said, looking around the room while Williams shook her head back and forth.

“I hear a pin drop,” Cohen observed. “Yes, very upset!”

At the time of its release, Brokeback Mountain‘s nuanced portrayal of queer romance — via the tale of a pair of shepherds who form a secret romance in 1960s Wyoming, despite eventually meeting and marrying two women (Williams, Anne Hathaway) — was hailed as one of the best films on the subject, by both critics and audiences alike.

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In addition to earning glowing critical reviews, nearly double the box office, and scoring more significant awards on the Oscars precursor trail than Crash had before the 2006 Academy Awards, Brokeback Mountain’s Lee also won Best Director at the ceremony, adding more confusion to the state of the awards race that led to Crash‘s Best Picture victory that year.

Watch Williams on Watch What Happens Live in the video above.