The movies Hugh Jackman watched to prepare for Wolverine
Training for any superhero movie is no easy feat. For any actor looking to gain a reputation as one of the greatest superpowered beings in the world, it takes a mountain of effort at the gym and one’s dietary habits to ensure they are in good enough shape to play anyone from Batman to Spider-Man. Although every actor goes through rigorous training to get that kind of physique, Hugh Jackman was looking at the artistic side when assembling Wolverine as well.
Jackman was already known for the physicality that he put into his previous performances. Even though he hadn’t yet played a superhero, his experience in the theatre world made him a perfect fit for the operatic side of Wolverine, especially when it came to getting into character in various fighting scenes.
Regarding Wolverine’s character development, Jackman kept his acting very subdued. Since X-Men revolves around a considerable amount of mutants being accounted for at one time, Jackman’s stoic demeanour has given him the status of a maverick amongst the team, playing by his own rules while being able to rip someone apart limb from limb.
Given that it was the tale of a loner, Jackman recalled going back to two significant performances from his youth, telling Kobini, “I started watching Dirty Harry and Mad Max. Mad Max, in particular, I think he has 11 lines of dialogue in the whole movie, Mel Gibson, and yet he’s onscreen the entire time”.
For a movie centred around a man who produces metal claws from his hands, though, Jackman understood the subtlety behind both performances. Although Clint Eastwood’s phenomenal portrayal in Dirty Harry had its operatic moments, the lion’s share of his dialogue tends to be fairly subdued. Just like the action star, Jackman learned how to let his body do the talking rather than have it be expressed by shouting to the heavens.
Then again, the Mad Max side of it is evident from the first few frames that fans saw of the first X-Men movie. Considering Wolverine’s assignment to get the job done with his fists first, the sombre moments are where he shines. Though there might be a silent protector side of him alongside his fellow mutants, the gaze in his eyes conveys all of the carnage he has had to see before the camera has even rolled.
Since Wolverine wasn’t known to be the talkative sort, every time he did speak, people tended to listen. In the brilliant scene from the first movie where Logan is asked if the claws hurt when they protrude through his screen, his subtle response of “every time” speaks volumes compared to his going into depth about the issue.
Although there are a host of different influences shown in the first film, Jackman has carried that same acting method throughout every single iteration of the character. Compared to his first turn as X-23 in the 2000 film, his portrayal of the same character in Logan feels like the fully realised version of Jackman becoming Dirty Harry, becoming older and more dishevelled while still having the capacity of tearing someone apart. While superhero movies might get criticised for being mindless action, Jackman knows that there’s technical nuance behind the performance beyond just punches and explosions.
