It’s close to impossible to imagine anyone else playing Wolverine in live-action other than Hugh Jackman himself who has played the titular X-Men hero for 24 years, has been synonymous with Wolverine. Also, the role has opened doors for the actor to shine in Hollywood and become one of the biggest stars he is today. But like the struggles of many actors, Jackman almost did not land on the role as well.
Hugh Jackman Was Not The First Choice For Wolverine
While it’s impossible to imagine Wolverine played by anyone else, Hugh Jackman almost did not get the role as the X-Men hero was already a star. Drew Barrymore’s Ever After co-star Dougray Scott first claimed the role of Logan but at the time he was also scheduled to appear in Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible 2 where Scott played Sean Ambrose, an IMF agent gone rogue. In 1999, Jackman came to the set of the first X-Men movie in Toronto for the audition which was under the banner of 20th Century Fox.
As Cruise was hesitant to let Scott do both movies (per The Telegraph), the X-Men movie based on Marvel comics needed a new Logan. Lucky day for Jackman but the director, Bryan Singer, and the screenwriter Tom DeSanto were not so pleased with Jackman’s audition for the role. The 55-year-old recalled DeSanto getting annoyed by the audition during his chat with Entertainment Weekly, “He’s just going, ‘Quiet… Quieter… Quieter.’ By the end, I couldn’t even hear myself.” Jackman added, “I could tell he was like, Why on my lunch hour am I auditioning some guy for a part that I’ve already cast? He was pissed off.”
However, as we all know, this was not the end of the spectrum, the Australian star managed to secure the role but he had a fair share of doubts before landing on one of the most defining Marvel characters.
Hugh Jackman Was Awestruck With The Generosity of Kevon Feige
Marvel Boss Kevin Feige did not have much say in the casting process of the ambitious Fox movie as he was a low-level producer’s assistant when he met Jackman for the first time on the set of the first X-Men movie. While it seemed to Jackman that it was nearly impossible for him to land such a big role, Feige later revealed that “there was a scramble to get our Wolverine” behind the scenes. “Lauren [Shuler Donner, his boss,] was very excited about this Australian guy, who had been rejected initially. In my memory, one of the main reasons was that he was too tall,” Feige added (via EW) adding that Wolverine in the comics is “called ‘Lil’ Fireplugs’ sometimes.” The comic version of the character is a short guy. “But they were desperate.”
While Jackman was leaving the set for the airport, Feige met the Australian actor and offered to take him out for a meal with the screenwriter. “I said, ‘Kevin, we all know I’m not getting the part. You don’t have to do dinner,'” Jackman recalled. “But no, he sat in there and had a steak dinner with me and then drove me to the airport. I’ll never forget it. That was the nicest thing. I thought, I’ll never see him again.”
Perhaps, that was the change of fortune for the actor, he did see Feige again as he became the Wolverine but most importantly, he lived the character and came back despite Wolverine’s cinematic demise in the 2017 movie Logan. Jackman returns as Wolverine in Shawn Levy’s MCU flick Deadpool & Wolverine.
Deadpool & Wolverine will hit the theaters on July 26.
