Heath for the Holidays

OH, HEATH, HOLD ME! The versatile Australian actor has hit the holiday movie jackpot with two crowd pleasers drawing two very different crowds. Heath Ledger's wildly acclaimed gay cowboy romance, Brokeback Mountain, has made him the likely favorite for Best Actor at the Oscars. His taciturn Wyoming ranch hand, Ennis Del Mar, is a man very much surprised to fall in love with a fellow wrangler (Jake Gyllenhaal), but he remains passionate and true through two decades and many obstacles. He's a hero of forbearance and fidelity, a true man's man.

Then there's his turn as the famous ladies' man in Casanova (see review), bedding countless beauties before settling down with one (Sienna Miller). Here, Heath is catnip to Venetian vixens, a snappy, frilly dresser, cool as the cucumber in his pants, as skilled with the pole as any gondolier, yet inclined to fall finally for a lady's brains (though her heaving bosom helps).

So how can we account for Ledger's bisexual magnetism at the box office? Here, we scientifically analyze his AC/DC appeal.