In the past he has been best known for playing a snarling, cantankerous mutant in X-Men, and in recent times although perceptions have seen him morph into a driven, greedy, slightly arrogant showman of the highest regard, the reality of superstar actor Hugh Jackman is neither of these. Instead, consider a humble, family man with old-fashioned values and a passion for the more serene things in life, as Simone Lee discovers.
For 17 years, Hugh Jackman wowed us as the immortal mutant Wolverine – all rippling muscle and lethal adamantium claws. Eternally youthfully, powerful and full of rage, the X-Men was a perfect anti-hero whose long life left him lonely, bitter and disillusioned. It’s little wonder then that when it finally came to hanging up those metallic talons in last year’s Logan (after Wolverine’s non-mutant moniker), Jackman breathed a bittersweet sigh of relief.
“I’m happy I’m done,” he begins. “And I mean that in the best possible way! I’m happy that I’m done because I’ve arrived at a place where mine and Logan’s paths are meant to veer in different
directions… and it’s time “After 17 years, and nine films, it’s the right time. It never felt right before when I had considered walking away, it felt off then. Now, in my gut, I know it’s the right move for both of us.”
Playing such a mentally and physically consuming role is certainly an admirable feat. For Jackman is not immortal, and for every sequel he was tasked with dragging his very human body back into the gym for months of gruelling workouts in order to achieve Wolverine’s sculpted and flawless physique. That process has itself inspired such awe among fitness buffs that it’s even acquired its own tagline – the Wolverine Workout. And Jackman smiles as he recalls his first ‘meal’ once the final scene of Logan was shot: “Bread. And beer. At the same time, down the hatch. Heaven,” he grins.
Now on the cusp of turning 50 – in October – the trim, youthful star is looking forward to selecting less strenuous roles, though he ponders how different it all could have been had he not spent the best of two decades in the gym. “I actually think Logan prolonged my life expectancy because I’ve been working out like a maniac for 17 years, and I’ve eaten pretty well, ‘clean’, as they call it now, for all that time.”
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