14 DAY TRIAL // Hugh Jackman has been playing Wolverine for 14 years but he’s not even close to done with the role, even though he’s been saying it for some time now. Shortly after he went on the record claiming he would not do another movie after the threequel to “Wolverine,” here he is giving fans hope once more.
Speaking with Collider about going to shoot the upcoming “X-Men: Days of Future Past” a few months after “The Wolverine,” when he was still in top shape, Jackman says that a solution to his predicament would be to shoot “X-Men: Apocalypse” and “Wolverine 3” back to back.
His predicament, for those of you who have not kept up to date with this, is that he’s getting old and going through the preparation stage to become Wolverine is becoming increasingly taxing on his body. At 45, Hugh is not old in real life, no argument here from us.
However, by Hollywood standards, there’s a clock ticking on the number of times he can still play the undefeatable Mutant. Then, there’s the question of his training, which sees him go on a strict diet and very challenging workout routine for months before shooting starts.
Jackman is always in excellent shape but, to play Wolverine, he has to have muscles and body mass worthy of a Mutant of his caliber. As the years go by, he’s been starting to feel the downsides of these training spells and he’s long expressed his desire to give his body a rest. Naturally, he can’t do that unless he’s ditching the Wolverine character.
Now, the handsome Aussie tells Collider that he could go straight from one shoot to another and thus maintain his physique for a while longer.
“No, in a weird way that has crossed my mind if that’s the way things play out, because physically, even though I was complaining about it because I found out about [X-Men: Days of Future Past] a month before I finished The Wolverine, so I was already planning on my cheat meals. It’s much easier because it’s tough to get there, physically, but once you’re there, it’s easier to maintain it,” he says.
“Apocalypse” is scheduled for release on May 27, 2016, while the third Wolverine film eyes a March 3, 2017 release. In theory at least, this would allow Jackman to shoot them back to back. In practice, we’ll see how it pans out because, as of now, there is not even a script for the third Wolverine film – and Hugh has said he’s only coming back if the script is really good.