The 2006 role Hugh Jackman called the “turning point” of his career: “That was the way”
Hugh Jackman had been best known in his early years for his work on the stage, with his performance as Curly in Oklahoma! bringing him a new level of appreciation, but it took several years after becoming Wolverine for him to consider himself a bona fide actor.
He was always going to be a strange choice to play Wolverine in the X-Men films, as the tall Australian actor didn’t seem like the right fit to play the short, stocky Canadian mutant.
X-Men producers originally wanted Russell Crowe, who wasn’t interested, so they later settled on Dougray Scott, who had to drop out due to his commitments to Mission: Impossible II, and thus, Jackman was brought in, who ended up delivering a performance that would become one of the most iconic in the history of comic book movies. There have been many X-Men films, some of which are better than others, but Jackman’s presence is always something that can be relied upon.
However, the challenge that he faced afterwards was that the roles he was offered outside of X-Men weren’t equivalent to his talents. He clearly had the chops to be a great dramatic actor, but a film like Swordfish didn’t do him any justice, so he found himself enthralled when he was cast in Darren Aronofsky’s experimental arthouse drama The Fountain, which he cited as a career highlight.
“It was a real turning point for me as an actor,” he revealed to Vanity Fair, “I think maybe from the theatre, the idea of working with a director on something is important to me, and you don’t always get that in film. Sometimes it’s very removed, actually, and we spent all that time before, not only getting to know each other; it felt like we were going into battle together.”
Aronofsky is a very ambitious filmmaker, and The Fountain has a very complex structure that involves three interloping timelines, each of which required Jackman to play a different character. However, Jackman said that it was a challenge he was excited about because of the strength of his relationship with Aronofsky.
“I have had, and still have, an immense trust and honesty with Darren about everything, to the point where Darren would often be right next to the camera while we were shooting,” Jackman said, “It made me realize how much I want and rely on strength, vision, collaborators, people to help guide me that I can trust, and the experience confirmed to me that was the way I should go.”
Despite the fact that the X-Men series continues to rake in obscene profits at the box office, the actor said he is most impressed by fans of The Fountain, admitting, “When people stop me, it’s the most passionate response of any movie I’ve done. The ones who get it have to tell me, and they have to tell me fully what it meant to them.”
The Fountain was not a financial success when it was first released, but time has been very kind to it, and it has developed a strong following. While Aronofsky’s visual genius is partially to credit for that, Jackman gave such a devastating performance as a grieving man that the film has become an all-time great tearjerker.
