Hugh Jackman Landed The Role Of Wolverine With A 20-Second Audition.
The Australian actor, who made his debut as the clawed and troubled mutant in Bryan Singer’s X-Men movie back in 2000, has revealed reading for the part was an unsettling experience.
He told Jimmy Fallon during an interview on The Tonight Show that Dougray Scott had already been cast in the role, but was forced to drop out due to scheduling conflicts, so he was brought in as a last-minute replacement.
“When I walked into that room, I was pretty sure that I wasn’t playing the role. It was a weird audition because Dougray Scott had the role and then he got caught up in Mission: Impossible 2 but everyone thought that would get sorted,” Jackman explained. “I think the entire audition was about 20 seconds. It wasn’t much longer.”
The 51-year-old previously opened up on his time on the set of the X-Men film and said Singer decided to film him from the neck upwards because he wasn’t in good shape.
“The first day I had to have my shirt off. And Bryan Singer didn’t say anything at the time but later said, ‘OK I gotta shoot you from here up and have the camera low,’” he told Variety. “I remember looking at the comic books – I’d never read the comic books before – so I’m looking at the comics and I’m like, ‘Uh, how long do I have to get ready for this?’