Just ask Randy Quaid, the veteran actor and brother of Dennis, who took on a bit part in the wildly successful Brokeback Mountain and now feels distinctly bitter about the experience.

According to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Quaid feels he was misled about the size and ambition of the film and thus agreed to accept his modest acting fee . . . for the part of the manager who hires the characters played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as sheep herders . . . under false pretences.

He is now suing the film's producers for $10m which he says is his habitual salary for appearing in major motion pictures. "From day one, defendants fully intended that the film would not be made on a low budget, would be given a worldwide release and would be supported as the studio picture it always was and secretly intended to be, " the suit says.

The film cost a little under $15m to make, and has earned more than $150m in worldwide ticket sales.

Despite failing to win Best Picture at the Oscars, it has scooped up just about every other industry award going for its depiction of a taboo love affair between two sheep herders over a 20-year period.