Hugh Jackman

by Anthony Bunko

  Worland described the work for Seed as if he was living in a dream: ‘Jacko and I were in the under-11 cricket team together at Knox prep school, and went to all the big Test matches at the MCG in our youth. All through our lives, cricket has been the one thing that has been central to it. We talk about it all the time; we talk in commentators’ voices. Jacko’s wife just looks at us and walks out of the room because she thinks we are being silly, but it is something that we have grown up with from being mates.’

  The first episode filmed in 2006, An Aussie Goes Barmy, features Gus infiltrating the Barmy Army, an organised group of supporters of the England cricket team. It was narrated by Hugh, who also helped to devise and produce the series with Granada Productions and Foxtel. The premise of the series was that Worland, who had lived in England for 20 years and had an English wife, follows the Barmy Army as they travel from the UK to Australia for the 2006/7 Ashes series. During filming, Jackman made a bet with his friend that if England won the test series, Worland must join the Barmy Army permanently and become an England supporter. Luckily for him, Australia won the series easily, 5–0.

  A year later, in 2007, Gus followed the cricket team on a tour of India for An Aussie goes Bolly, followed later by An Aussie goes Calypso, where Worland follows the team to the West Indies and mingles with the crowds, interviews famous ex-cricket stars and samples the local delicacies. All three shows were a huge success in Oz and a welcome boost for Seed.

  Meanwhile, during that time the production company became ready to move onto bigger things. When they received a script which intrigued them, for a movie called Deception, and learned that director Marcel Langenegger had put up his hand to become involved with it, they decided to go for broke and create their first feature film.

  At first, the thought of actually having the courage to attempt a venture on this scale blew Hugh away. He was apprehensive but excited at the same time: ‘Here was a film which was a genre film, but slightly left of field in terms of the genre. It just had enough difference to interest me, I suppose creatively, and not just be a down-the-line formulaic film. It also was reasonable in its scope. It wasn’t too massive and we knew it would be realistic to make. And we found a way to fund it outside the studio system. So on the first day of filming, we were already in the black from foreign sales, which was, for us, an amazing position to be in as first-time producers. We didn’t have studios breathing down our necks day in, day out.’

  It was shot in New York and proved a great way for the production company to learn about the tricks of the trade. To reduce costs, they shot in digital and largely at night. For Seed, part of the deal was that Hugh would play one of the lead parts. Surprisingly, he opted for the role of the villain, who was a real charmer with a dark and malicious side to him.

  Deception stars Scottish actor Ewan McGregor and Jackman in a cat-and-mouse style murder mystery. Jonathan McQuarry (McGregor) is a nerdy accountant auditor in Manhattan, tasked with auditing and checking the books of various companies. While working late one night, a smooth and well-dressed man named Wyatt Bose (Jackman) stops to chat with McQuarry, offering him a joint. Soon they become good friends and when their mobile phones are ‘accidentally’ swapped, Jonathan answers a series of Wyatt’s calls from various women asking if he is free. Jonathan discovers that Wyatt and the women are part of a sex club for busy, powerful people. He becomes involved and falls for one of the club members, whom he knows only as ‘S’. When S goes missing, Jonathan faces demands involving violence and lots of cash.

  But the film received negative reviews from critics: in its opening weekend, the film grossed $2.3 million in 2,000 theatres in the United States and Canada, averaging only $1,155 per theatre and ranking number 10 at the box office. When all was said and done, it grossed just under $10 million, which wasn’t that bad a return considering there was the added bonus that Hugh and his partners were able to use the film as a stepping stone to much greater things.

  The next – and much greater – project for Seed came in the shape of the spin-off from the hugely successful X-Men series, called X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The end of X-Men 3 had left fans and audiences hanging, and no one, including Hugh, knew exactly what was going to happen next as far as a fourth film was concerned. Meanwhile, Seed Productions received a fantastic script from David Benioff, one of the great writers in Hollywood, for a spin-off movie. Hugh thought his ideas were brilliant and steeped in a deep love of the character and comic-book history – exactly what he himself was looking for. He felt the script answered any questions left about his character’s origins, and more importantly it gave Seed Productions a damn good reason to make the fourth movie.

  The script pitched Hugh not only as the undisputed star, receiving approximately $20 million for his troubles, but also the co-producer of the $135-million motion picture. ‘As a producer, I feel much more attached to how this movie will be received,’ he announced. ‘This was how I saw the Wolverine character and I haven’t been quiet or shy about saying I wanted to make this movie, so it became more personal. If it fails, I can’t lay the blame on anybody else.’

  With the previous three X-Men films grossing over $1 billion, Jackman and company knew they would be under huge pressure to deliver another hit. ‘I’m my father’s son,’ said Hugh, turning into the astute businessman. ‘He was an accountant, and I love dealing with budgets and the machinations of the filmmaking process.’

  Even so, his motivation had nothing to do with getting more cash for his behind-the-camera role. For him it was all about having a bigger say in the casting, deciding who should direct and ensuring the script was loyal to the spirit of the comic books. Personally, he wanted to take his Logan character to the next level while helping to make the best and most exciting adventure movie he could, with even more enhanced special effects than before: ‘That was what was important to me. But I don’t find producing the most fun. I find it quite difficult. It’s quite a lot of conflicts. You probably get to know things about people on a crew that you probably prefer not to know. And as an actor, you probably don’t need to know.’

  Although nervous about its success, being the producer did have certain perks, such as a say in the location. While some scenes were shot in New Zealand and Canada, the bulk of the footage was filmed in Hugh’s hometown of Sydney: ‘Our aim is to support Australian filmmakers, to stimulate the creative community and provide international opportunities for Australian artists,’ Hugh said when the location of the filming was announced.

  Obviously it had major benefits for the rest of the Jackman household as well, because it meant they didn’t have to uproot and live a nomadic existence while filming. For once, Hugh could more or less walk to the office each day.

  The storyline for the X-Men Origins: Wolverine focuses on events that took place before the first three films and tells the back-story of Wolverine’s violent past. It explores the mutant’s lifelong rivalry with his brother Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber) and his quest for revenge after the murder of his schoolteacher girlfriend, Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins).

  ‘To make films like X-Men work commercially, and still have some class, is one of the hardest things there is to do,’ Hugh commented. ‘I wanted to be seen to be able to cut across a lot of the genres, and still be “fair dinkum” as we say in Australia, which means genuine and true and, well, unique.’

  To get that ‘fair dinkum’, he entrusted the role of director to Gavin Hood, a South African filmmaker, whose low-budget Tsotsi won the Oscar in 2005 for Best Foreign Language Film. However, even with all of Seed’s diligent work and planning, things still didn’t go as planned and four months into shooting, Wolverine was dogged by problems. Hood’s initial vision of a Wolverine who suffers the superhero equivalent of post-traumatic stress disorder led to clashes with the studio and Hood was forced to admit that he had struggled with the logistics of working with so many special effects and a big budget.

  At one point, nervous Fox executives in Los Angeles flew co-pr
oducer and experienced director Richard Donner (Superman, Lethal Weapon) to the Australian set to work with Hood. ‘There were discussions between myself and the studio about style and I think we were all very happy with the way the film ended up,’ said Hood tactfully. ‘I was the new kid on the block and I welcomed Dick Donner’s expertise. He was my mentor figure.’

  The production also ran into trouble in Queenstown, New Zealand, where an environmental controversy arose over a scene involving the blowing up of a farmhouse and the storing of explosives at a local skating rink, which was eventually sorted out.

  When the cameras finally did start rolling, Hugh couldn’t keep the smile off his face. For him, it was a great feeling to be walking on set as a producer: ‘There were two thoughts that came into my mind. The first thought was like, “Wow, look at all these jobs I’ve created, all these people, it’s so fantastic.” Then a minute later I’m like, “Why are they all standing around? Let’s go, come on, people.” Whereas as an actor, you’re like, “Oh, no problem, we’ll finish it tomorrow.” Now I see it differently, I know now what’s at stake. I know what the budget is. I know how many days we can go over and how many we can’t. It’s actually a thing that I think all actors and directors should be aware of.’

  It was the fourth time that he had played Wolverine. He hadn’t realised until after the film was released that he was the first actor to play the same comic-book hero in four consecutive movies since Christopher Reeve in Superman.

  Hugh really wanted to lead from the front and trained extremely hard to be in tip-top condition for the role without going over the top. His vision was to make this Wolverine even darker and edgier than he had been in the other films, but he didn’t want to go overboard in the muscle department: ‘I wanted audiences to say, “This guy could easily rip someone’s head off,” but I didn’t care about being massive, like Schwarzenegger massive. I wanted to be lean, and not seen as a freak of nature.’ He pictured Logan to be lean but not pretty, more like De Niro in the remake of Cape Fear. His eyes lit up as he explained: ‘You remember when you saw De Niro in that convertible as Max Cady, smoking cigars and then without his shirt, doing chin-ups, with those tattoos. You were like, “Oh shit, I’m scared as hell of this guy.” That’s what I wanted.’

  His friend and personal trainer, Michael Ryan, set about turning him into a lean, mean fighting machine with some really insane workouts: ‘We’re very competitive and he trash-talked me the entire way. He would say, “I’m gonna smash you, that’s pathetic.” We played that game.’ Hugh also found it got him in the mood if he listened to music. ‘My favourites were AC/DC, Gobsmack and Metallica played very loud. When I’m training I’m fairly obnoxious and I make a fair bit of noise. I beat my record on the bench, which is about 300lb, but I only trained for an hour. It’s the intensity that counts. It is interesting because I think I am Wolverine when I’m training because then I can lift more weight and that’s what it takes to feel the rage.’

  You are what you eat, so the saying goes, and it soon became apparent to him that physique is 30 per cent training and 70 per cent diet. It meant that he had to wake up at 4am and eat egg whites followed by chicken or salmon, with steamed vegetables and brown rice every three hours. He cut out most breads, sugar, beer and pizza, which he hated because he loves bread. Also, there were no more carbs after lunch. Unbelievably, he got leaner while still packing on 15lb of pure muscle for the role. Which was just as well because at times during filming, Jackman needed every inch of that extra muscle to combat the high levels of testosterone flying about – especially during the fight scenes between Wolverine and his brother, Sabertooth, played by an equally vicious-looking Liev Schreiber. It was a case of both actors pushing themselves to the limit. The real savage intensity between the pair shocked the cast with the sheer force of the punches they exchanged. ‘We would look to see if the other one was fading and then both of us always say, “No, I’m fine, let’s go again. Come on, you can hit me harder than that!”’ recalled Hugh.

  In one big confrontation in a bar, Hugh stood at one end while Liev was at the other. On the count of three they just ran at each other. BANG! Liev got knocked to the floor, but then like a cat on all-fours he tackled Hugh, bringing him to his knees. Hugh remembered thinking at the time, ‘Shit, I’ve broken a couple of ribs! But I’m an Aussie and getting injured is a point of pride. Liev’s a physical guy who could have played pro football. We worked out together and became competitive on everything down to diet. We just punched the shit out of each other.’

  Their competitiveness carried on throughout the movie. Liev, originally no match for the muscular Hugh, had requested the chance to gain real muscle after being humiliated by the need to wear a muscle suit for his role in an effort to make his physique look comparable to Hugh Jackman’s 225lb. The suit was similar to that worn by Vinnie Jones in X-Men: The Last Stand. After three months of training while on the set of Defiance (2008) in Lithuania, a diet packed full of protein (which Schreiber called the genocide of chickens) and eventually more training with Jackman on the set of the film, Schreiber gained 35lb and had to buy some new suits due to his back gaining several inches in width: ‘I can’t fit into my favourite suit now! But I felt like I owed it to the genre to be big.’

  In another fight scene, this time with twenty-eight-year-old Taylor Kitsch, who plays Gambit, aggression was again the order of the day but this time it ended up with bloodshed. ‘We were having this fight,’ Hugh recalled, ‘and Kitsch had this staff, and he went to hit me and I stopped him with my claws, and he reeled back very quickly and someone called, “Cut!” I looked down at my claws and there were only two claws left, and I looked over at Taylor and it was sticking out of his thumb. He just looked at it before saying, “Whoa, dude, something I said?” then he pulled it out, wiped the blood away on his jeans and goes, “Let’s go.”’

  X-Men Origins: Wolverine was not all about getting lean and kicking the shit out of one another, however. Hugh also attempted to make Wolverine look more natural than in any of the films so far, mainly because he didn’t want to sit in make-up for quite so long. Before the shoot, he grew out his beard and sideburns, which proved a success. Unfortunately, even though all the hair was his this time around, it still took about three bottles of hairspray a day to get the style right.

  There was also another first for Hugh in this fourth instalment of X-Men – a nude scene. He bared it all several times over while filming a scene where he jumps off a waterfall. Sadly for the hordes of female fans who later streamed to the cinema to catch a glimpse of his Jack-man-hood, all Hugh’s best bits found themselves on the cutting-room floor as the movie’s PG-13 rating meant it couldn’t show nudity. Hugh stated, ‘It’s easy to jump off a waterfall naked, but for a PG-13 movie? It took a lot of choreography!’ After filming finished, the director gave him a bag that contained the clips of his private parts, which had been cut from the scene. Hugh held the film to the light and said, ‘Okay, now I know why that’s in a bag!’ He later admitted to locking the footage away in his safe.

  X4 finished filming on time and within budget, which was a major plus as far as the production company was concerned. Then, while organising the première and all the sexy stuff that goes along with it, disaster struck as an unfinished print of the movie was leaked online. Within hours, tens of thousands had downloaded it. The only saving grace was that the pirated print lacked most of the special effects and more than 10 minutes of additional footage according to Hood, who described the leak as ‘excruciatingly painful’.

  It was devastating for everyone involved. Hugh was obviously heartbroken and more than a little angry that it had been leaked a month before the official release: ‘It is a serious crime and there is no doubt it is very disappointing. The FBI is onto it and they’re taking it very, very seriously,’ he said. ‘Rest assured that the persons will be found. I was heartbroken by it, but obviously people are seeing an unfinished film. It’s like driving a Ferrari without a paint job.�
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  He was heartened by the fact that the majority of the online community of fans condemned the leak and assured Hugh that they would still go and see it at the movies on its release. Also, he was lifted by the fact that, even with film piracy being rife within the industry, Hollywood was having a great year, registering its biggest homeland take in history with $13.59 billion, topping its 2007 total of $13.58 billion, which had also been a new high.

  And so he put the disappointment behind him and travelled the world promoting the film. His first stop was Sydney Harbour’s Cockatoo Island, where much of the movie was shot. There, he unveiled 20 minutes of completed footage to about 600 fans. Hugh thrilled fans by arriving by helicopter before catching a flying fox (a cable car) from a cliff top to the ground. During his speech, Sydney-born Jackman used the opportunity to address reports that he’d mistakenly called the Sydney Opera House the Opera Centre while communicating with fans on the social networking website Twitter that same week – tantamount to treason in his beloved country: ‘I communicated it over the phone and when that got translated by someone in my office it came out all wrong. I do know the Opera House is called the Opera House. I think I had my high-school leaving assembly at the Opera House when I was eighteen so I should know that one.’

  During the première, he again showed how kind and considerate he is towards his fans. While most Hollywood stars try to avoid obsessive fans, Hugh did the opposite. The actor spent almost £3,000 on breakfast and coffee for a group of Wolverine enthusiasts in Arizona, who had camped out to see him at the première of his latest blockbuster. After hearing that hundreds of fans had waited hours just to catch a glimpse of him at the event, he decided to reward them for their patience. The generous Australian heart-throb headed to the Paradise Bakery in Tempe to buy 67 breakfast trays, including platters of bagels, muffins and croissants and over 80 gallons of coffee. One fan who received the star treatment said, ‘Everyone was so overwhelmed by it. It was just a really generous thing to do.’