4 to watch in 2004: young Hollywood's idols are discovering their gay sides in challenging new movies.

In John Wayne's West--hell, even in Kevin Costner's--a man would rather sleep with his cow pony than with another cowboy. But hold it right there, pilgrim: This year some of young Hollywood's smartest leading men are getting ready to shoot down those old cliches in pictures set in ancient Greece, the Harlem Renaissance, and Wyoming's wide-open spaces. Some have wrapped, some are still shooting, and some are, as they say in showbiz, "in negotiations" for projects yet to come. As far as we know, all these actor's are heterosexual. Whatever. We can't wait to cheer them on.

Jake Gyllenhaal We met the boy with the sad eyes and sexy build in indie hits like Donnie Darko. Now the 23-year-old star is being talked about for Ang Lee's upcoming Brokeback Mountain, the long-awaited screen version of Annie Proulx's short story about two cowboys who carry on a lifelong secret love. We're already misty.

Heath Ledger He rocked us in A Knight's Tale and moved us to tears in Monster's Ball. We even forgave him for that bomb The Order. Now the 24-year-old Aussie sensation is said to be planning to couple with Gyllenhaal for Brokeback Mountain. This wouldn't be Ledger's first gay role; he got his big break playing gay on a soap opera Down Under. How hot is that, mates?

Daniel Sunjata He was named one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" of 2003, and that was with his clothes on. Onstage without a stitch in Broadway's Take Me Out, he left audiences positively witless. But Sunjata (who won't reveal his age but is said to be 30) is more than a flawless face and body. He won acclaim in the theatrical smash about a baseball star who comes out at the height of his fame. Now, in the Sundance hit Brother to Brother, Sunjata shows his range in the role of Harlem Renaissance gay intellectual hero Langston Hughes--a winning move in any season, baseball or otherwise.

Jared Leto Is there such a thing as being too handsome to be straight? If so, Leto is there. He's as pretty as a Dresden figurine. But he's never been afraid to get that face dirty, in such fare as Panic Room (he gets burned), Fight Club (he gets pounded), and Requiem for a Dream (he loses ... well, never mind what he loses). So imagine the figure Leto, 32, will cut as Hephaestion, real-life love and battlefield general for Alexander the Great. You might think the upcoming film epic Alexander will cut away from the kisses. We don't think so. This is an Oliver Stone movie, remember: He doesn't cut away from anything. Besides, nobody of any sex could resist the chance to see Leto kiss the film's Alexander--some guy named Colin Farrell.