Why Hugh Jackman turned down the chance to become James Bond: “You just have to sign on”
You’d think playing the iconic superhero Wolverine in nine different movies would be enough for Hugh Jackman, but the Australian has enjoyed many other famous roles over his incredible career. Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, PT Barnum in The Greatest Showman, ‘The Great Danton’ in Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, Jackman has worn many different faces over the years and will likely wear many more by the time his astonishing run is done.
As with every actor, Jackman has also turned down or missed out on a number of famous jobs. He was in the running for the part of Billy Flynn in the movie adaptation of the musical Chicago before it eventually went to Richard Gere. The character of Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was allegedly named after him in an effort to lure him to the series. However, the biggest role he ever missed out on was one of the most coveted gigs in all of cinema: James Bond.
“I was about to do X-Men 2 and a call came from my agent asking if I’d be interested in Bond,” Jackman told Variety in 2017. “I just felt at the time that the scripts had become so unbelievable and crazy, and I felt like they needed to become grittier and real. And the response was: ‘Oh, you don’t get a say. You just have to sign on.’ I was also worried that between Bond and X-Men, I’d never have time to do different things.”
Jackman’s rejection came at a pivotal point in the history of the superspy. Pierce Brosnan had just wrapped up his tenure at MI6 with mixed results. The character had undergone a serious tonal shift, moving away from the more overtly sexist and generally bigoted attitudes that had defined his portrayal in previous decades. Brosnan didn’t even want Bond to smoke cigarettes. The Irishman wanted to do a fifth and final movie, but following unsuccessful negotiations with Eon, he walked away. The hunt for the next Bond was on.
A number of other names were considered alongside Jackman. Henry Cavill was supposedly the favourite of director Martin Campbell but was deemed too young at the time. Christian Bale was offered the role but turned it down, saying he’d “already played a serial killer” in American Psycho. Ralph Fiennes was suggested, but he wouldn’t end up joining the series until Skyfall, when he replaced Judi Dench as M Colin Salmon, who’d previously played MI6 staffer Charles Robinson, was nearly the first Black James Bond. In the end, Daniel Craig was given the green light, and the rest, as they say, is history.
The other most interesting candidate from a Jackman-centric perspective was Dougray Scott. The Scottish actor had previously starred in Mission: Impossible II, meaning he already had relevant spy experience. He actually got injured on that project, meaning he had to pull out of a role he’d already been cast in – Wolverine in X-Men. Poor guy just can’t catch a break.
With the power of hindsight, it seems mad that anyone but Craig could have led Bond into his new era. Jackman is charismatic, good-looking, and suave, but it’s hard to imagine him playing a more serious version of 007. In the end, it’s probably for the best that he had to turn it down but talk about a crossroads moment.
