Hugh Jackman Recalls His Failed Wolverine Audition (and Kevin Feige's Support)

In 1999, Dougray Scott was chosen for the first X-Men. But Tom Cruise upset Fox's plans by requiring him to finish filming Mission: Impossible 2…

Coming back in the Logan/Wolverine costume, this summer in theaters, Hugh Jackman fulfills the dream of Ryan Reynolds, who plays Deadpool alongside him, and he celebrates 25 years of playing the clawed mutant. An exceptional longevity within Marvel comic adaptations.

To wait until the release of Deadpool and Wolverine, Entertainment Weely interviewed the duo, as well as the blockbuster's director, Shawn Levy, and the producer who heads Disney's superhero division, Kevin Feige. The opportunity for Hugh Jackman to recall his arrival in the saga, and in this role which changed his career.

Check out Hugh Jackman's first audition for the role of Wolverine

Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, it wasn't always obvious. 25 years after the filming of Bryan Singer's first opus, he has become inseparable from this character with superhuman strength, but at the beginning, nothing was won. Worse, the filming had started without him, with another actor in his place!

Throughout the saga, Wolverine has had his ups (X-Men and its direct sequel, adored by the public, his funny cameo in The beginning before coming back for real in the sequel, Days of the Future Past) and stockings (his first solo film), and we thought his cinema adventure was over with LoganJames Mangold's acclaimed 2017 drama. Increasingly muscular over the course of his incarnations, Jackman has brought a certain depth to his character, making it one of the most popular super-films, all studios combined. So much so that today it is difficult to imagine Dougray Scott in its place…

Hugh Jackman Swears He Never Took Steroids to Play Wolverine

However, in 1999, it was this British-American actor who was chosen to play Wolverine. Barely spotted in Deep Impacthe had been hired by Singer for his blockbuster, but at the time, he was called back by Tom Cruise on the set of Mission: Impossible 2by John Woo. A big budget film, again, a direct competitor of X-Men since it was produced by Paramount and not 20th Century Fox. Obliged by his contract to complete the shooting as Ethan Hunt's adversary, he was forced to abandon Wolverine after filming had already started.

Hugh Jackman recounts being called to Toronto in a hurry to attend a most bizarre audition: screenwriter Tom Desanto had been asked to read a key scene from the film to him in a trailer, while Singer filmed sequences of X-Men which did not include Wolverine.

“He kept telling me: 'Softer… Speak softer… One more notch lower…' In the end I could hardly hear myself anymore! Jackman recalls. I could feel him thinking: 'But why am I here on my lunch hour auditioning this guy for a role that's already been cast?' He was beside himself.”

Kevin Feige, who was then a production assistant on X-Mendetails that behind the scenes, his boss Laurent Shuler Donner was pushing for Hugh to be chosen to play Logan.

“We had trouble finding our Wolverine, he confesses. Lauren was very keen to cast this Australian actor, who had initially been rejected for the role. My recollection is that he was turned down largely because he was too tall. Wolverine is sometimes portrayed as a small mutant in the comics. He's not tall, that's true. But they were all desperate. (following Scott's departure, editor's note).”

After this reading, Hugh Jackman said he left to take the plane discouraged, convinced that he would not have the role. Feige was then asked to take him back to the airport, but rather than drop him off directly, he offered to go eat, in the company of the screenwriter with whom his interview had gone badly. “I didn't want to leave him there, all alone in the cold!”Feige assures.

“I told him : 'Kevin, we all know I'm not getting this part. You don't have to invite me to dinner.'rJackman then tells us. But no, he insisted, we sat down and ate this steak, and then he walked me back to the airport. I'll never forget that gesture. It was really sweet of him. Even though I thought at the time that I would never see him again…”

Ryan Reynolds Calls Logan 'The Best Comic Book Adaptation Ever'

Once X-Men released, and thus Jackman's superhero career launched, it took years before he could reteam with Feige. Because Feige was tasked with overseeing Marvel comic book adaptations for Disney while Jackman had become a Marvel-stamped star… but at Fox. The acquisition of this firm by the studio with the big ears, in 2017, allowed Ryan Reynolds to reunite them, after two successful opuses where he spent his time teasing/spoiling/jealousy Logan – between two well-felt self-criticisms, by the way.

Reynolds' insistence paid off in 2019, when the man who had hit it big with Avengers, Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther and colleagues, was able to officially integrate the Fox-Marvel characters into its Disney stable. Little by little, cameos were made possible (Patrick Stewart's Professor X in Doctor Strange 2for example), then Deadpool 3 was announced with great fanfare by the star duo, with obviously a good dose of irony.

Eight years after the release of the first Dead PoolThere “The Merc With a Mouth” concretely back on the big screen, still in an action comedy for adults (R-Rated), but produced by Kevin Feige and accompanied by his best enemy with adamantium claws.

Here is the latest trailer for Deadpool & Wolverinewhich will be released in theaters on July 24:

Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds: From Wolverine to Deadpool 3, a friendship that lasts