‘The Deer Hunter’ and the moment Hugh Jackman fall in love with acting: “That was a game changer”
For over two decades, we have admired Hugh Jackman‘s diverse slate of film roles, as they have varied from both big-budget superhero films like the X-Men franchise, as well as the stand-alone Wolverine movies, to charming romantic comedies like Kate & Leopold, to dark dramas like 2013’s Prisoners.
Jackman’s versatility proves that he’s a bona fide movie star and an actor’s actor.
You can’t typecast the Aussie thespian despite reprising a role like Logan/Wolverine in the X-Men franchise. It’s easy to judge someone who has had a career like his and think that he does not have a wide array of film knowledge, or maybe he picked up acting on a whim.
Fact is, he’s a man of varied tastes and has even provided a list for Rotten Tomatoes back in 2018, highlighting his favourite films. While some of these may be in line with yours, others may be a bit of a shocker.
With films like Caddyshack, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Singing in the Rain making his list, you can see the parallels between his choices and how they’ve reflected on his career. Jackman has played very adventurous characters, danced around and sang for our entertainment, and occasionally given us some remarkable comedy. But what about the intense, dramatic side he can bring out? The actor had the perfect pick for that, too.
Jackman also picked 1978’s Vietnam drama, The Deer Hunter, for his list, stating that he saw it as a teenager and was very moved by it. “I saw that when I was 15, and that blew my mind about what was possible with acting. Yeah, that was a game changer,” Jackman told Rotten Tomatoes.
The film follows three friends played by Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and John Savage, from the a steel town in Pennsylvania, who all take part in a hunting trip before shipping out to serve in the Vietnam War. However, their hopes and dreams of serving with honour are crushed as the ramifications of the war take a toll on all three of them.
The Deer Hunter was, in fact, a game changer, winning ‘Best Picture’ at that year’s Academy Awards, with Christopher Walken and Michael Cimino walking away with ‘Best Supporting Actor’ and ‘Best Director’, respectively, alongside a few other golden statues that night. The film covers both the harsh realities of being at the battle lines and the aftermath of surviving and returning home. The 1970s is chock-full of post-Vietnam films, but none hit as hard as The Deer Hunter. It’s a movie with two infamous Russian roulette scenes that make you respect De Niro and Walken’s acting craft, and yet, due to its traumatic nature, you may never want to experience any of it more than once.
Jackman’s dramatic roles in Les Misérables, Prisoners, The Son, and Logan have demanded that he bring an extra level of intensity to the projects, and every time he’s more than delivered. But it’s also easy to see why he picked a film like The Deer Hunter and thinks so highly of it. It’s a drama that defined a tragic time in history and was a commentary on how people fell victim to it, during and after. It’s a film revered by a whole generation of people; how could you not want to fall in love with acting after seeing those performances?
