Even though he stands a full foot taller than the 5’3″ comic book character, Hugh Jackman is adored by Marvel fans for his portrayal of Wolverine. But during the auditions for the original ‘X-Men’ (2000), it was the very thing that put a roadblock on his path to becoming the superhero.
That massive height discrepancy led to several rounds of auditions, only for an executive to tell Jackman what the real problem was. Looking back on his casting journey, ‘The Greatest Showman’ actor looked back at how close he came to missing out on the clawed mutant entirely.
The Huge Height Problem Blocking Hugh Jackman’s Way
In a 2023 interview with Chris Wallace on CNN, Jackman recalled that he had auditioned many times for ‘X-Men,’ and the regular callbacks were indeed a good sign. However, his height raised doubts among the team about casting him in the first movie.
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Jackman says he met with producer Tom DeSanto, who told the actor that his height might become an issue. “I did about seven auditions. I remember, finally, I did audition, audition, audition, and then I went to see—they had a production.”
“We were talking, and he [DeSanto] said, ‘You know, it’s just one problem. I hope the fans are not going to have a problem because the character is meant to be 5’5″.’ And I said, ‘Tom. Really, it’s going to be absolutely fine. Don’t worry about it, thank you.'”
Jackman showed his crouched posture as he walked away from that conversation, noting he actually “walked out like that.” Finally, the creators cast him in that role, and the rest is history. Speaking about his height, the actor also revealed there was an attempt to make him shorter in the first film.
“Actually, in the first movie, Chris, I never had my shoes on. Every other actor around me—the rule was, unless they were a kid, they had to be taller than me…I was literally crouching like that. Shoes off.”
“People were on planks and boxes all around me. So, we went to a great effort. And I think after a while they just gave up on that.”
Jackman On Playing Wolverine Till 90
Cut to the present, Hugh Jackman is still rocking his role as Wolverine. When ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ came out in 2024, the world saw another R-rated extravaganza proving that Hugh had what it takes to continue playing Wolverine even after his death in ‘Logan.’
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Since Logan Howlett and Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) survived their MCU debut, fans naturally started to speculate whether the two heroes could return to the MCU, especially since the Multiverse Saga will conclude its story with ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ and ‘Avengers: Secret Wars.’
In his interview with PBS, Jackman shared his thoughts on his future in the MCU, and it seems he is ready to continue playing Wolverine for years to come.
“I’m 57. I’m doing it till I’m 90. So, you know, I’ll do a little time capsule for them. I’m not going to say anything to whoever plays him, ’cause no one said anything to me, which I really am thrilled about. And I had not read the comics, so I was just coming to it fresh.”
“And I learned a lot over the years. Of course, I’ve got my own take, but it must be melding in with me in some way. I hope someone just comes in and does whatever the f— they want and makes it their own.”
While Jackman still wants to continue playing Wolverine, he is clearly ready to pass the baton to a fresh face. It perfectly aligns with Marvel’s plans for the X-Men following the release of the last two Avengers movies.
Director Jake Schreier will helm a new X-Men movie rebooting the superhero team of mutants for the MCU. Marvel is reportedly looking for a new cast for a fresh take on some of the most popular comic-book characters. Whether Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine will appear in that movie remains to be seen.
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