by Paul Fischer
by
Paul Fischer
Hugh Jackman was
continent famous -- that continent being Australia -- when he was 
signed
to play Wolverine in the first X-Men movie,
but that choice scared the hell out of quick to judge fanboys. Jackman
nailed the part and fanboys started thinking sequels. Lots of 'em. Origins
for a character that, until this year, had no set-in-stone origin. Jackman's
has said a third X-Men movie would probably be his last. In the
meantime, he's busy shooting next summer's Van Helsing, as in that guy
from the Dracula stories and will trod the Broadway stage this fall in
a Broadway musical called The Boy From Oz, based
on the life of Peter Allen (once Mrs. Liza Minelli; Oscar
winner for theme song for Arthur among others). We start with X2 and an
incremental rise in Logan's slice 'n' dice rating.
CrankyCritic: Our audience cheered at the first
brutal fight scene. The first movie was all about angst and anger. This
one is almost nonstop action. Talk about balancing the pair
Hugh Jackman: I'd been talking to fans about the first movie and
they said 'You didn't kick enough ass. We want to see this berserker rage'
I thought about it and they're right. There's a big fight sequence with
Mystique where I end up on my back, knocked out. There wasn't a lot of
that berserker rage. When I read the new script I thought the relationships
were better; It was funnier, there was more action but I fought for even
more, in the mansion sequence particular. There's more berserker rage
there than there was originally. Apart from that I thought the script
had a great balance. It works for Wolverine's story. It's not like he's
in the corner crying. He's at a crisis point. He's about to find out everything
he's wanted to know. As liberating as that is it's frightening as all
hell so he's on edge. He's having these nightmares so it all works together.
CrankyCritic: Have you learned to stay away from comic book stores
so the fanboys won't mob you?
Hugh Jackman: I don't get mobbed. I don't know why that is.
Maybe they don't recognize me. I've had the odd weird encounter with fans.
Vinnie at Bobby's (De Niro) restaurant is my favorite. He's the manager,
so it's not like he's unaccustomed to seeing actors. About the 4th time
I've been there, a waiter comes up to me and he said 'You're the guy who
plays Wolverine. Vinnie's a huge fan and really wants to see you. And
I look over and the's Vinnie is ducking down behind his booth. Ten minutes
it took him to come over and see me and he's literally in a sweat. I said
'Nice to meet you Vinnie. Are you a fan? and there was silence. And he
said "Am I a fan?" And he took his shirt off and there's a full
color tattoo of Wolverine on his back and he goes AM I A FAN OF WOLVERINE?
and he gets down on his knees and 'Thank you for doing the film.
I love the film' and my wife pulls out a camera and asks if he'd like
a few shots. Well Vinnie was doing the poses, flexed his back, we took
a whole roll of photos and sent them to him. I think I eat there for free,
now, don't I Vinnie? <vbg>
CrankyCritic: Next year you'll play the legendary monster hunter
Van Helsing, filled with every monster Universal Studios (Frankenstein,
Dracula, the Wolfman, the Mummy et al) has license to use. Tell all....
Hugh Jackman: Well, it is a big summer action blockbuster, no doubt.
I read the script and it certainly wasn't on my radar. I was just about
to start shooting X-Men when I signed on. Yes, I'm in the middle of a
franchise and do I need to do another one but this one was kind of compelling.
The book was so good and I knew all the people involved. I have to say
I'm feeling a little smug with myself because we're three months into
shooting and we've done enough of it that I feel that it's going to be
pretty good. The monsters are amazing and the fight sequences are out
of this world. It is going to be frightening enough and action filled
enough to just sneak under the PG13 rating. It looks fantastic and there
are monsters in it. It's really an adventure story. People will really
go along for a ride. It feels like I'm in an Indiana Jones movie. It's
huge. You can't believe it!
CrankyCritic: Does your son understand what you do?
Hugh Jackman: My son is now starting to get acting lessons. I try
to explain it to him as pretending. We play pretend together. If I have
to go to work I say 'Daddy's got to go play pretending' and he says '
I don't like your job. I don't want you to be cranky anymore.' He doesn't
fully get it. One day he said 'Daddy don't go to work. I don't want you
to be a lizard.' I say 'OK I'll do my best.' He loves Wolverine. On Halloween
(when he dressed up as Logan) he was just in heaven. Van Helsing he doesn't
like 'cuz it's scary. there's a couple of scenes where I have to go through
fire and he thinks it's too dangerous.
CrankyCritic: and the Wolverine toy he likes the most is . . .
?
Hugh Jackman: The toy he likes the most is about a foot and a half
tall and says things like "I'll slice you in half" and he takes
it to bed. I'll be in the other room and it goes off in the middle of
the night. So he's getting these subliminal messages: "This kid will
take you down" and "I'll slice you in half" he kisses and
hugs it. I can see years of therapy coming my way
CrankyCritic: Wait until he gets the Peter Allen doll!
Hugh Jackman: (hysterical laugher.) That's going to really confuse
him. He did ask for tap shoes the other day. I think I'm already in trouble.
What does a Peter Allen doll do? Let's say it has great flexibility <laughter>.
I'm going to mention that to the producers. We're going to get that line
in there
CrankyCritic: What about doing a movie musical? Are they coming
back?
Hugh Jackman: Well, as long as there's not a half dozen crap musicals
in the next year and a half, musicals will come back. Rob Marshall
and Baz Luhrmann have shown that they're viable. They're
commercial and they can work on film. It seems crazy to me that they haven't
been done successfully since Grease. If something's bad, if a
musical is bad it stinks to high heaven. Really. Hopefully they'll still
be around and I'll be putting my hand up. People ask me what musical I'd
like to do. I'd love a version of Sweeny Todd to be made, if
I had my choice. I'm saying that to put it out there in the ether. but
don't shoot it yet. Wait at least eight months!
CrankyCritic: Then again, last Christmas on Saturday Night
Live was the first time most people got to hear you sing.
Hugh Jackman: I got more reaction from Saturday Night Live
than from any movie I've ever done. I mean I had no idea how any
people watched it. I didn't grow up with Saturday Night Live but
I did know all the comedians who came from there. It was one of the most
fun weeks I've ever had. I'm dying to go back there if they'll have me.
The only problem was Will Ferrell. There were three skits that were so
funny that I ruined because at the rehearsal I couldn't get through it
without laughing. Three of his skits got cut which was such a shame. The
christmas kangaroo skit at the end? I couldn't look at the monitor which
had me being sodomized by a kangaroo. It was out of control. I loved it.
It was a real highlight and, as I said, I didn't know how many people
watched it. I'm glad I didn't know.
CrankyCritic: We'll ask about Australia's idol one more
time since they're waving you out of the room...
Hugh Jackman: The Boy From Oz was a huge hit in Australia.
I saw it and loved it. great show. It appeals to the nationalistic side
of me. Funnily enough, on X2 there was one gag take where I came
in as Peter Allen doing Wolverine. It was the moment where I walk into
Cerebro. I walked in and went "Oh I love what you've done with Cerebro!
It's fantastic!" and I sat in [Patrick Stewart's] lap and, of course,
he got right into it and we played the whole thing and then I walked out.
Bryan's face was ashen for about two hours. It was like 'If this gets
out Wolverine's absolutely gone' and then, of course, he proceeded to
show everyone who came on set 'you've got to see Peter Allen as Wolverine!'
I doubt it will be on the out takes.
CrankyCritic: We can only hope. The show
is going direct to Broadway in September?
Hugh Jackman: I never wanted to go more than five years off the
stage. Not necessarily musicals. It's such a dream to go to Broadway with
the first Australian musical ever to go there, playing a character I have
huge admiration for so I'm really looking forward to that. I'm more excited
about that than I've been about anything for a while. Going to New York
is a huge thrill.