Born in Sydney of English parentage, and the fifth of six children, Hugh Jackman has a Communications degree with a journalism major from the University of Technology Sydney. After graduating, he pursued drama at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (Which he graduating in 1994), immediately after which he was offered a starring role in the ABC TV prison drama Corelli, opposite his future wife Deborra-Lee Furness.

Several tv guest roles followed, as an actor and variety entertainer. An accomplished singer, Hugh has starred as Gaston in the Australian production of Beauty and the Beast. He appeared as Joe Gillis in the Australian production of Sunset Boulevard. In 1998, he was cast as Curly in the Royal National Theatre’s production of Trevor Nunn's Oklahoma.

Hugh has made two feature films, the second of which, Erskineville Kings, garnered him an Australian Film Institute nomination for Best Actor in 1999. In his spare time, Hugh plays piano, golf and guitar and likes to windsurf.

The actor’s winning streak continued when he was hired to replace Dougray Scott as Wolverine in Bryan Singer’s high-profile adaptation of the comic book series, X-Men. The film, whose cast also included Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Anna Paquin, James Marsden, and Halle Berry, opened to strong reviews and box-office to become one of the biggest hits of the summer. Jackman’s rising international popularity was reflected by his casting in Tony Goldwyn’s Someone Like You, a romantic comedy also starring Ashley Judd and Greg Kinnear. Jackman was hard to ignore in 2001, appearing just a few short months later with John Travolta in Swordfish.

2003 saw the return of the X-Men and, with them, Jackman’s Wolverine in X2: X-Men United, a film that not only repeated the first film’s financial success, but was considered by many to be the rare sequel that outdoes its predecessor. Sticking with the action genre, Jackman was next seen in the title role of the 2004 big-budget action film Van Helsing. Currently, he has finished filming X3: The Last Stand which comes out late spring and is prepping to do the spin-off X-Men film, Wolverine.

Delaware County Magazine had the pleasure to talk to Hugh recently about the upcoming X-Men film.

DCM: How is X-Men 3 different from the other two films?

Hugh Jackman: The second X-Men was a more intense and darker film. I also thought it was a little bit funnier. It gave even sharper focus to the complexity of the characters and their world and its issues. But I always thought X-Men 2 would be better than X-Men 1. This franchise may be like the James Bond or Star Trek films, where it’s episodic and keeps evolving. In this movie, the kids get a much bigger role to play and the tone is the darkest of the three and focuses on the “Dark Phoenix” storyline that was taken from the comics. That’s the great thing about comic movies is that they already have storylines that have been tried and tested in the comic books and there are still 30 or 40 characters who still haven’t seen the light of day. I don’t see why the films can't maintain that kind of quality and they keep making them.

DCM: Could Wolverine ever find love? He has in the comics.

Jackman: In the comics, he has. The movies have adapted the best parts of him. In this film, he has a go in this one, which is good. I think he takes a step forward. In the first film, you got the idea that he was a guy who was a bit nervous, a commitment-phobe. He manages to cross that line this time, so that’s a big step forward. Because Wolverine’s so broody, grumpy and angry a lot of the time, it’s great he gets to have a relationship with someone. So yes, he could find love - but I think it would have to be someone very patient and, if I know Wolverine’s sexual tastes, someone a little bit racy!

DCM: Is it true you based the character portrayal on Clint Eastwood?

Jackman: Before we started Bryan [Singer] asked me to watch Mel Gibson in Mad Max and the early Dirty Harry films. I also watched the westerns that Clint did with Sergio Leone. And it frightened me because I’d never once heard that I looked like Clint Eastwood, but with this character and the make-up I could see what they were finally talking about. But secretly, what I was most frightened of, was that I might have just copied him because I was watching the damn movies in my trailer all the time! [laughter]

DCM: Did you have to work hard to keep Wolverine’s physique in between films?

Jackman: I had to do a lot of training before. I spent about three months with a guy who trained Angelina Jolie to get her ready for her films. I didn’t ask for her body, I didn’t think that would be appropriate, but still he worked with me. [laughter] And then I worked with the nutritionists who work with the English Rugby Team, who gave me a nutrition routine that was a bit spartan to say the least. I think they were afraid an Australian’s idea of dieting was only having half a dozen beers a day! So all of a sudden it was no alcohol, no bread, no sugar... it was brutal.

DCM: In a film like this do you feel like you’re acting or are you just playing?

Jackman: I feel guilty by saying a lot of it is like playing, but it is. The thing is these characters have their vulnerabilities. You have to make them interesting. People who go and see these movie are gonna be surprised. People think it’s a mutant with claws fighting other mutants; it’s much more adventure and has a message of tolerance to it. There’s things at stake, so you’ve got to pull that off. John Travolta once said to me, “Action movies, no matter what’s at stake or how many people are dying or what’s going on, are the most fun to make.” In fact, romantic comedies are the hardest, because you’re never quite sure if you’re in the right zone. With action movies, you just feel like a little kid.

DCM: Were there any hesitations in doing any of these movies for fear of being in a franchise?

Jackman: I had it in my head that I was gonna do a different kind of movie after X-Men. I was literally on X-Men 2 and then went into Van Helsing. Steve Sommers, who directed it, used to make a living when he was travelling abroad as a busker, telling stories. He used to get on the street and he would take ideas from people and incorporate them and off-the-cuff tell these stories. So picture Steve, for an hour, mesmerizing me with this monster story. I thought If this story is half as good as this pitch, I'm just in. [laughter] I had one moment of nervousness doing back-to-back movies and I knew they wanted Van Helsing to be a franchise and I knew X-Men would have another, so I kind of thought, “Do I want to do this right now?” I called him and told him and he said, “Man, I got to tell you, you’re the only actor in Hollywood who’s afraid of being in two successful franchises.” I had to laugh at myself. You can’t always plan everything. When the right thing comes along, it comes along.

DCM: How was it working with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen for the third time now?

Jackman: It was fantastic! When I started to study acting, there were a few things that I remember. One was a play I saw called The Master Builder, which I saw twice and I was mesmerized by it. Another was a series of tapes by John Barton about playing Shakespeare, that every actor should see, and Patrick Stewart’s version of The Merchant of Venice was on it and he was incredible. I also saw Ian in Macbeth with Judi Dench, which was amazing. When I started, it was more a dream, to be honest, of being in the West End rather than Hollywood. So to be working with Ian and Patrick for my first Hollywood picture was just fantastic. To me, these are Pacino and DeNiro. They’re the English version of them to me. On a worldwide scale, they have more of a range of talent. I was in awe.

DCM: Do you think the X-Men movies and other comic book movies have raised the image of comic books in America?

Jackman: I never read comics as a kid growing up. I was slipped the X-Men comics under my trailer door while we made the first film,I was amazed at how helpful they were, the images more than the stories at that point. The images, and how they captured emotion or an action sequence in just, say, three images. I have to say I used them as inspiration for some of the fighting stances and techniques. The way Wolverine stands and how he looks when he’s fighting. I think the stories are epic. Bryan Singer didn’t want us to read them. He was very frightened that we would come out with these 2-D characters, but we didn’t.