Hugh Jackman Reveals ‘Very Embarrassing’ Start as Wolverine
By now, Hugh Jackman fully embodies Wolverine on the big screen. He’s played the Marvel antihero seven times, including in The Wolverine and the forthcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past – more than any other actor has performed as one superhero. However, he admits now that he got off to a rough start as the gruff member of the X-Men.
Jackman recently shared a “very embarrassing” story with MTV News regarding his first go as Wolverine in 2000’s X-Men. Jackman had arrived in Toronto three weeks before filming without a clue about actual wolverines. “Not knowing what a wolverine was, that it was actually a real animal, I was going past the IMAX, and I saw this. . . IMAX showing of wolves,” Jackman said. “I was like, oh, [it must be] a wolf sort of thing, so I went in there, and that’s where I had this whole [thing of facing down], like wolves smelling the ground while I’m looking.”
Summer Movie Preview 2013: ‘The Wolverine’
Jackman wanted to give an animalistic edge to the role with his wolf-inspired behavior, but X-Men director Bryan Singer wasn’t a fan. “[Singer] at one point said to me, ‘It’s a little weird physically. But it’s interesting,'” Jackman said. “And I said, ‘Yeah, man, I’ve been studying wolves and I think if we could bring that to the screen-‘ and he goes, ‘What? You’re not a wolf, man, you’re a wolverine.'”
Jackman was confused. “I said, ‘Yeah, but obviously there’s no wolverine,'” he said. “And [Singer] goes, ‘No, that’s actually an animal. It’s small. . . and [there’s] really no point in studying its habits and movements — it’s a more metaphoric idea.'”
The Wolverine opens tomorrow. X-Men: Days of Future Past is set for a May 23rd, 2014 release.