HUGH JACKMAN WOLVERINE X MEN 3 INTERVIEW

Tuesday 9th of May 2006

HUGH JACKMAN RETURNS AS WOLVERINE IN X-MEN: THE LAST STAND

The process which transforms Hugh Jackman from extremely likable, honest-to-goodness Australian actor into Wolverine, that pent up whirlwind of rage who explodes on to the screen with the force of a hurricane, usually starts around five in the morning with the appropriate music blasting out in an on set gymnasium.

Jackman likes to play heavy metal loud – very loud – as he pumps iron and freely admits that the bands he chooses to help him get into the mood don’t feature too often on the play list at home. “Oh no, my wife hates them!” But somehow, for that Wolverine moment, they are entirely appropriate and do the trick.

“When I do the films I work out to music that I never really listen to at any other time, like Godsmack and Metallica, so I start the day at 5am with this driving, angry music while I’m working out and it really helps me,” he explains.

“And funnily enough, if I work out and I do it like I’m in character, I can lift 50 per cent more than I can if I’m not. It’s interesting, as me I’m like ‘ahh, it’s too heavy..;’ and I’ll be whinging and whining and complaining. And I kind of just go ‘come on, just think of Wolverine..’ and I do and it’s there, instantly.”

When the other cast members turning up for work at, say, six in the morning, Hugh is usually nearing the end of this gruelling work out. He often wonders what they make of the one man wall of sound blaring out from the mobile sweat room.

“I get up every morning when I’m working and we do an hour and a half training in the gym and I make that gym training part of my preparation for the character,” he explains.

“I put on maybe 15, 20 lbs as Wolverine. And for me that’s not easy to do, so it’s a lot of eating, a lot of heavy, heavy weights and then I crank the music up and do a lot of screaming.

“I’m really obnoxious. If people turn up for work around six they can hear me screaming ‘aaarghh!’ and the music is cranked up and people are like ‘what is going on? Did Hugh not go to bed last night? Is he still partying in there?’ “

Jackman, 37, freely admits that he loves playing Wolverine and he will be eternally grateful to him, too. His blazing performance as the mutant who springs steel claws whenever he is angry in the first X-Men back in 2000 turned him into a major international star. He’s not looked back since.

“I love this character and I’m proud of that role and it is without doubt the foundation of my career, I mean, many doors opened for me as a result of paying him.”

So much so, in fact, that he has agreed to star in an X-Men spin off movie as Wolverine.” Yes,” he confirms. “I think he is an interesting enough character and mysterious enough that there’s a lot still to be found out about him. And we’re going for it, we’re up to the second draft (of the script) now. We’re coming up with some great stuff and I’m really excited about it.”

That’s for the future. First up, we should enjoy the last of the X-Men trilogy, The Last Stand, and marvel that once again, Jackman and the rest of a genuinely stellar cast have returned to play the mutants, good and bad, who this time, are on the verge of all out war.

There’s Ian McKellan as Magneto, the leader of the anti-human mutant faction, and Rebecca Romijn as Mystique. Patrick Stewart is back as the kindly Professor Charles Xavier and his team of mutants includes Halle Berry as Storm, Anna Paquin as Rogue and Famke Janssen as Phoenix. There are newcomers too with Kelsey Grammer as Dr Hank McCoy – better known as Beast – and Olivia Williams as Dr Moira MacTaggart.

“I love this cast,” says Jackman. “They are an absolute joy to work with. And I really believe that we have the best story of the three films with this final instalment.”

The road to the screen wasn’t as smooth as it could have been. Bryan Singer, who directed X-Men and X-Men 2, wasn’t available to complete the trilogy because he was busy elsewhere, namely filming Superman. And Matthew Vaughn, who directed Layer Cake, had to pull out, due to personal reasons, at the very last minute – three months before the cameras were due to start rolling.

Into the breach stepped Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, Red Dragon, After The Sunset) who, says Jackman, did a fantastic job. “He really did. And he understood the story, he got the characters and he inherited a great script, which he recognised, which he made even better. Brett was just great.”

Jackman, 35, is one of five children, born and raised in Sydney and first acted at school, although he never seriously considered it to be a career option. “At school they encouraged music and sport and acting and drama, but it was encouraged as part of the rounding of the man. Not really as a career option - you were meant to become a doctor or a lawyer, one of the professions. So I never contemplated becoming an actor.”

Instead, he studied communications at the University of Technology in Sydney, majoring in journalism, and left college planning on a career in the media. But then he had a change of heart.

“I didn’t know how to get started (in journalism) and didn’t fancy doing death knocks and all that kind of stuff for the first few years. So I put it off for a year and did a part time acting course and a lot of things fell into place at once.”

Indeed they did. From that part time course, Jackman won a place at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in Perth and when he left there walked straight into a role on the Australian television drama Corelli where he first met his wife to be, the actress Deborra-Lee Furness.

Jackman has vast experience on stage and screen back home in Australia but he credits his work with the National Theatre in London, and in particular Trevor Nunn’s acclaimed production of Oklahoma, as some of his best. Working with Nunn certainly had a huge influence on him.

“When I actually got to the National Theatre in London that was probably my dream come true,” he recalls. “I used to walk back across Waterloo Bridge every night pinching myself.”

Hollywood, in turn, has welcomed him with open arms. As well as the X-Men films, he’s proved to be one of the most versatile stars working today – playing a vampire hunting slayer in Van Helsing, a romantic time traveler in Kate and Leopold and a reluctant computer hacker in Swordfish.

Last year he played the late singer songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway and intends to reprise the role this summer in his native Australia.

Since finishing the run, Jackman has been working with a string of Hollywood’s top directors – Woody Allen (Scoop), Darren Aronofsky (on the sci-fi epic, The Fountain) and Christopher Nolan (The Prestige).

Jackman and his wife, have two children, Oscar, 5, and Ava, who is now eight months old (as of March 06) and was adopted just days after she was born in July last year. “She’s adorable,” he says. “And we’re besotted parents..”

Q: Are you pleased with X-Men: The Last Stand?

A I think it’s going to be great. I’d been involved with the script of X Men for 18 months and I knew the character and I figured it was going to be a relatively easy shoot and it actually proved to be that. I mean, these movies are wall-to-wall characters so you are not wall-to-wall every day. You go through periods but you get a little bit of time off.

Q: Was it a problem getting the cast back together again?

A: It wasn’t a problem. It was a problem getting Bryan Singer but he fell out and that was a bit of a pothole and we had Matthew (Vaughn) for a while. And looking back now there were so many times when this movie could have gone disastrously wrong in terms of the process of getting it made. But when they came up with the story idea of this cure (for the mutants) I immediately thought that was brilliant because it cuts into everything that X Men is about.

Q: So the mutants can cure themselves if they choose to?

A: Yes, the question is, if you had the opportunity to get rid of it, would you do it? This movie is all about yes they are superheroes, but all of them are haunted by it. And the ramifications and the themes, you know, if you were gay and you had the opportunity not to be, or if you were Jewish or any minority or anything that is discriminated against, would you take it? And there’s not a person who wouldn’t think twice about it no matter how strident they were and ultimately that’s the message. It’s obviously ‘no, be yourself, whatever that is.’ But it makes for a fascinating story and I thought that idea was brilliant. And the cast all came back – which was great. I think they all realised that the script was the best of the three.

Q: And Matthew Vaughn was on board. Did you enjoy working with him, albeit, briefly?

A: With Matthew I only have good things to say about him. He came on board and the script was strong and he had some unbelievably good ideas. I think he has a great contemporary eye and he made it a little edgier and several of the things he put in are still in the script. I hope he gets a credit of some kinds or a special thanks because he developed the script to being ‘this is ready to shoot and this is the best of the three.’ and when I met with Brett he looked at the script and said ‘the first thing I have to say is that, I have to thank Matthew because this film has been developed brilliantly.’ He had a few changes himself, of course. One actually, was a big change, where the whole third act ends up happening in San Francisco and that was a part of act two, and that did change things a lot. And he had several other character ideas that he developed himself. But he inherited the strongest of the three (scripts). Matthew fell out like three months before we started shooting and the list of directors who could do it, even with more than three months, is not that long. If you have met Brett he is fearless - he is the most positive, fearless, confident guy and he is in his element on those big sets and this is a big show.

Q: He was coming into an established team. Was that hard for him?

A: Brett made me immediately comfortable because he came in and said ‘OK, here’s what I like about the films.’ and he listed all the things that were the best parts of the films and he says ‘I’m not going to change any of them. What’s the point?’ He says ‘the cast – great.’ He made it clear he wasn’t going to re-invent the wheel but at the same time he has some of his own ideas, which were great, and he just added to the whole thing. I mean, this movie is the end of a trilogy and there were certain things that had to be resolved and Brett knew that and he wanted to work within that framework.

And what he said to me, he goes ‘the thing I feel could be better with X Men is the emotions. I still don’t feel that people watch those movies and they cry at the end. I want that to happen. I want them to laugh, I want it to be sexy, but I want it to be affecting.’ and it’s a character piece and he was absolutely right. It’s the final piece of the puzzle and it needed to be that and Brett is passion – he’s a heart guy, it’s all from here. Bryan is a brilliant filmmaker and I would say he is more cerebral.

Q: Why no Bryan. Presumably X-Men clashed with Superman?

A: Yes. I was never angry with Bryan. I knew he had a passion for Superman from way back. I’ll give you an example, in X Men 1 I’m at the top of the Statue of Liberty and Rogue has been drained of life and Wolverine picks her up and Bryan’s talking to me through the megaphone and he goes ‘oh it’s just like when Christopher Reeve rips off the door from Lois Lane when she is falling and he pulls her out of the car and screams to the heavens. It’s like that moment…’ I said ‘Bryan, mate, I haven’t seen that movie since I was 12. I don’t know what you are talking about. And it’s like ‘well, let’s go and watch it..’

We watched it in his trailer. And he says ‘I watch this movie 20 times a year. I know every frame…’ So I think the chance to direct that was like a boyhood dream

Q: Did you enjoy being re-united with the regulars?

A: Oh yeah. We were filming and I remember saying to Patrick after a scene ‘that’s the best work we’ve done together’ and it was all down to the writing, just fantastic. We had great scenes with things in our character’s relationship that had never been explored before. And likewise with Halle, best stuff we have ever done and a scene with Anna Paquin, who plays Rogue, we did this fantastic stuff which kind of rounds out that relationship.

Q: You must have been asked this before, but where do you get that Wolverine rage?

A: I’m the youngest of five kids. My oldest brother Ralph drove me nuts (laughs). I don’t mind saying this publicly, but there were times when I thought ‘OK, I think I’m going to have to kill him, because if I just knock him out he’ll wake up and kill me..’ I remember the rage at times. And he was stronger than me. Up until about the age of 11, unbelievable rage and I used to take it out on the sports field, you know, playing rugby. I used to play a lot of rugby and I would get in trouble a lot. My hero was Jean Pierre Rives (French international rugby player), and if you remember all of those images of him with blood pouring down his face and running like a terrier, that was me! (laughs). And then you kind of grow up and become civilised and then you get a role like this and you think ‘it’s all still there!’

Q: Do you do anything to put yourself in that Wolverine kind of mood?

A: Yeah, I do. When I do the films I work out to music that I never really listen to at any other time, like Godsmack and Metallica, so I start the day at 5am with this driving, angry music while I’m working out and it really helps me. And funnily enough, if I work out and I do it like I’m in character, I can lift 50 per cent more than I can if I’m not. It’s interesting, as me I’m like ‘ahh, it’s too heavy..;’ and I’ll be whinging and whining and complaining. And I kind of just go ‘come on, just think of Wolverine..’ and I do and it’s there, instantly.

Q: Do you ever listen to that kind of heavy metal music outside of preparing for Wolverine?

A: No, never. My wife hates that music. But for me, it’s like therapy (laughs)

Q: How important has Wolverine been to your career?

A: I mean, I love this character and I’m proud of that role and it is without doubt the foundation of my career. Many doors opened for me as a result of paying him. I love playing him so much that I want to do another movie. Another journalist said to me ‘but aren’t you worried about being typecast?’ And I never think of it like that. I just love playing this character and I love playing him. I think he is a great screen hero. I watched those movies and think ‘he’s a cool guy!’ And when I do it’s a little bit out of body because I go ‘that is so not me.’ It is, obviously, but sometimes I can’t remember how I did it. But it’s so much fun to play and I love the cast I’m working with.

Q: So you will do a Wolverine movie?

A: Yes. I think he is an interesting enough character and mysterious enough that there’s a lot still to be found out about him. And we’re going for it; we’re up to the second draft (of the script) now. We’re coming up with some great stuff and I’m really excited about it.

Q: Presumably it gives you the chance to explore Wolverine’s background as Logan?

A: Yes, because the X Men are about the X Men, understandably. And I’ve been very lucky because it’s a great role and it’s wonderful to be part of that ensemble but it is an ensemble, as it should be. It works very well in that and there is something in those movies for everyone to relate to. But I always thought that there’s so much about his past, about who he really is and what makes him tick. We’re not sure exactly what we’ll do yet, but it will probably be a prequel to the X Men movies, because that is still the most mysterious part of him, the creation of that character and that is the most exciting thing.

Q: How’s your new daughter?

A: She is teething a bit at the moment but she sleeps a lot and she is just happy all the time. Ava is just one of those happy go lucky people. You know it’s thrilling. I’m a besotted Dad. I’m like mush, it’s pathetic! (laughs).

Q: When did you know she was coming?

A: We were in London where I was doing Scoop the Woody Allen movie so Woody very kindly, because he has adopted kids and he knows the situation, he kindly shifted his schedule a little bit. So we had the call on Monday and by Thursday night we were in Texas with the baby – so the first we had heard about it was the Monday and by Tuesday it was ‘look, if you want her the baby is here..’

Wednesday it was ‘oh no, we have to go to the department store, we have nothing and we are going to adopt a baby! And it was like ‘right we want a crib, Moses basket.’ We were in heaven. In about an hour we had cleaned them out of everything. I mean, we didn’t have a nappy, nothing. So everything Debs shoved in the bag we bought. We flew over and arrived Thursday morning because of the time difference, went to the adoption agency and had her in our arms just after lunch Thursday. Back to the hotel and flew back to London the next day, she was only four days old. We had to actually tell a few white lies to get her through, it was like ‘oh she’s ten days old..’ I think she was six days actually but you have to be a week or ten days old to fly. She was a trooper. And she’s just adorable.

Previous News

X Men The Last Stand Related Product Searches

Search