Let’s face it, when you are Hugh Jackman, you can admit just about anything and still get heart eyes from those around you. Such is the case when the Logan star admitted last week that he didn’t know wolverines were legitimate. He thought the X-Men character, Wolverine, was a wolf and even researched wolves for two weeks to bring some lupine realness to his short, Canadian, brawling character with retractable claws. Huh, “short, Canadian, brawling, retractable claws” sounds familiar – oh yeah, that’s the definition of a wolverine! (Not really, they can be also be Norwegian.) So committed was Hugh to being the best wolf in hunky Australian clothing, Bryan Singer had to call him out on it after viewing his early takes.
The 48-year-old actor, who has played the superhero Wolverine in nine films, explained that he thought his character was a wolf. “I didn’t even know there was a wolverine. I literally, embarrassingly did about two weeks of research on wolves,” he told the Associated Press on Wednesday, May 17. “I was rehearsing for three weeks and I was shooting, so I was kind of on my own. I remember going past an IMAX in Toronto, and there was an IMAX documentary about wolves, and so I thought, ‘I’ll go and see that.’”
While shooting 2000’s X-Men, director Bryan Singer felt that something was off with Jackman’s Wolverine portrayal. “He said, ‘Are you sort of walking funny, what’s going on?’” Jackman recalled. “And I said, ‘I’ve been doing this thing with wolves,’ and he goes, ‘You know you’re not a wolf, right?’ I said, ‘Well, there’s no such thing as a wolverine.’”
According to Jackman, Singer replied, “‘Go to the zoo, dude.’ I literally didn’t know it existed.” While the names are alike, wolverines resemble small bears and are part of the weasel family. They are known for being incredibly strong for their size and can kill much larger prey. Similarly, Jackman’s Wolverine character possessed super strength and retractable claws modeled after the real-life animal.
I was going to unleash my full arsenal of sarcasm – lovingly, of course – on Hugh for this when our very own – and my most benevolent boss – CB admitted she, too, did not know wolverines were real animals until a few months ago. Unlike Hugh, who was taken to task by a long-time comic book aficionado like Singer, CB was laughed at by her son. Having a son the same age, I can assure you CB’s hazing was far harsher than Hugh’s.
So, in light of wanting to keep my job this new information, let’s come up with a viable reason that Hugh did not know wolverines existed outside of yellow and black spandex. Quite simply, he’s from Australia and they have enough fauna that will kill you in an instant to worry about something that only exists in cold climates. And wolverines are pretty low to the ground, with Hugh’s height, he might not have seen one as they scurried past – or maybe he mistook it for an Australian-sized cat? What I find far more entertaining than Hugh studying the wrong animal, is to have seen Singer’s reaction to his wolf performance. Hugh must have been so bummed to realize he wasn’t this majestic pack animal but, in fact, a form of weasel (all due respect to weasels).
I’m certain of one thing, though: Deb knew exactly what a wolverine was but kept cheering Hugh on in his wolf performance, just for her own amusement, “more baying, Hugh – really put your back into it!”
“You know I’m real, right Hugh?” “Oh, sure “You’re Highness”.”
Photo credit: WENN Photos and Getty Images
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