The crushing moment Hugh Jackman was rejected from a classic Sandra Bullock movie
Hugh Jackman and Sandra Bullock are two of the most successful actors of their generation. However, there was a time when only Bullock had hit the big time, and Jackman was yet to burst onto the scene in the role that we all closely associate him with, Wolverine in X-Men. However, things could have been very different with Jackman almost securing a memorable part in Bullock’s signature movie, 2000’s Miss Congeniality. However, things were not to be, and the actor would have to wait a little longer before finding significant success.
Whilst X-Men came out in July 2000 and Miss Congeniality in December, at the time, Bullock was already a star due to her roles in successful flicks such as 1993’s Demolition Man, 1994’s Speed and the following year’s While You Were Sleeping. In the decade’s second half, she’d also had hits in A Time to Kill and Hope Floats. So, when Miss Congeniality came around, it only solidified her as an icon of modern cinema.
As Hugh Jackman revealed during a 2022 interview with Variety, he had the chance to support Bullock in the 2000 comedy as her character’s love interest, FBI agent Eric Matthews, with production on the first X-Men already wrapped. Jackman did not want to star in the movie, but his agent made him go to the audition regardless. The actor said that if he’d landed the role, his agent would have been able to have negotiated against another film he’d been offered, 2001’s rom-com Someone Like You.
“No one knew X-Men yet,” he said. “I was a nobody”. Jackman even read lines with Bullock for his audition, recalling that he could have been much better prepared. He thought at the time: “‘Holy shit! She’s amazing! And so quick and fast. I’m not even vaguely up to speed here.’ I was pedalling as fast as I could, but I didn’t know the script well enough”.
“It was the first time I’d tested [with another actor],” Jackman continued. “I was impressed that she was in there. I didn’t expect her to be in there. I’m guessing eight people she tested with.”
The role of Eric Matthews eventually went to Benjamin Bratt. Even though he didn’t want the movie, the outcome was hard to accept as his agent had thought it would be an easy gig to secure, yet he didn’t want him to get it either. “That’s humiliating, when your agent says, ‘I don’t want you to get this job, but just go get it.’ And then you don’t get it,” Jackman concluded.
