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12 Things You Didn’t Know About Hugh Jackman

Hugh Jackman is probably best known for his role as Wolverine from the X-Men franchise. After all, he’s appeared in every X-Men film to date with the exception of Deadpool (though his face does make an appearance as a magazine cutout mask worn by Deadpool). You may have already known that Jackman will reprise his role as Wolverine in the 2017 film Logan but do you know how he first landed the role of the mutant berserker? Here are 12 things you never knew about Hugh Jackman.

1. Jackman was a last minute addition to the X-Men cast in 2000.

20th Century Fox

Dougray Scott was originally cast as Wolverine but his prior commitment to Mission: Impossible 2 required two extra months of shooting.

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2. Jackman credits his good friend Russell Crowe with helping him achieve success.

20th Century Fox

After Crowe turned down the lead in X-Men, he personally recommended Jackman to director Bryan Singer for the part.

3. Jackman goes through intense physical training when he plays Wolverine and can bench press more than 300 pounds at peak condition.

20th Century Fox

4. Although Wolverine’s height is 5′ 3″ in the comics, Jackman is almost an entire foot taller at 6′ 2½”.

20th Century Fox

As a result, the filmmakers were frequently forced to shoot Jackman at unusual angles and his co-stars wore platform soles to make him appear shorter than he actually is.

5. He watched Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry movies and Mel Gibson in Road Warrior in preparation for his performance as Wolverine.
 
20th Century Fox
 
Jackman explained, “Here were guys who had relatively little dialogue, like Wolverine had, but you knew and felt everything. I’m not normally one to copy, but I wanted to see how these guys achieved it.”
 
6. While his character Wolverine loves to smoke cigars, Jackman does not smoke at all and dislikes smoking in films.
 
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7. He is near-sighted and has extremely blurry vision when he isn’t wearing contacts.
 
Universal Pictures
 
Jackman memorized almost everything he had to say when hosting the Tonys and Saturday Night Live so he wouldn’t have to struggle to read.

8. Jackman accidentally broke an extra’s hand while filming Van Helsing in 2004.

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Universal Pictures

9. Jackman met his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, while co-starring in the Australian TV series Correlli.

NBC

Jackman’s wife is 13 years his senior.

10. Jackman and his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, adopted their two kids, Ava Eliot Jackman and Oscar Maximillian Jackman.

Sesame Workshop

11. He lost 20 pounds to play the role of Jean Valjean as Prisoner No. 24601 in Les Miserables.

Universal Pictures

12. The upcoming 2017 Logan will be the FINAL time he plays the role of Wolverine.

20th Century Fox

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