Hugh Jackman Biography

On acting:
“I think the most interesting question is, why do you act? I act because I have felt in acting some of the most free moments of my life...I think it’s also one thing that scares me the most.”

On preparation for his role in ‘The Fountain’:
“(T)his was probably the most physical role I’ve ever done. I know it probably looks easy but I don’t know if you’ve tried to get into the lotus position…And tai chi, I did tai chi for a year in order to pull off what is ultimately about ten seconds of film. And the last three days of shooting I was in the lotus position, twenty feet under water, locked into this bar, I was underwater for eight hours a day. And the lotus position took me fourteen months to get.”

On rugby and his inner Wolverine:
“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! 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!"”

On fame and fortune:
“Before ‘X-Men’, the biggest movie I'd ever done was budgeted at $2 million. It was the kind of set where you went, “Is it possible to have a chair?” And on ‘X-Men’, I'm in a trailer that's bigger than my apartment back in Melbourne, and they're apologizing and saying, 'The real trailer will be coming in on Monday”.”

On ‘The Fountain’:
“I find it a bit uncomfortable to watch some of those scenes in this movie because I think with Darren’s help we achieved an atmosphere on set that was very private. I had never had an opportunity to play a scene like that which required that rawness.”

On whether he would like Wolverine’s healing powers:
“Yeah, that would be good. That would come in handy in Hollywood. I could be a 100 and still play leading man. That would be good.”

On working with Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart:
“They're two of the greatest actors alive today. And I knew of their work as Shakespearean actors from years ago. It was quite an honor to be able to work with them. To actually work with them, I had to kind of forget that I was a little bit in awe and remember that as Wolverine, I couldn't give a stuff who they were.”