When someone says the name, “Hugh Jackman,” one could be reminded of the actor’s brilliant acting skills, his hilarious personality, or simply his ripped physique. Either way, there is no denying the fact that he is one of the best actors out there. His ever-growing fan base can back this statement. If ‘dedication’ could be personified, it would look like Hugh Jackman, since time and again, he has shown the world the lengths he is willing to go to just to perfect his character.
His fame is largely owed to the work he has done as Wolverine, the violent mutant. Since many have vouched for Hugh Jackman being one of the nicest humans in real life, it must have been quite difficult for the actor to play the angry Wolverine. He revealed the tricks he had hidden up his sleeves and let the world in on his secret to playing the character.
How Hugh Jackman Angered Himself for Wolverine
Call it method acting or just a simple tactic, Hugh Jackman once stumbled upon a trick that got him perfectly riled up for his role as Wolverine – cold showers. There might only be a handful of people in the world who like cold showers, but Jackman can’t relate.
The X-Men actor stated that he had to take a shower at five o’clock in the morning as his hair was full of hairspray from the previous day. Unfortunately, Jackman was greeted with freezing cold water. Imagine the ordeal he went through while being drenched with icy water in the middle of Toronto winters!
“My wife was asleep, it’s, like, five o’clock in the morning and there’s no hot water, so my hair was full of the hairspray from the day before and I had to take a shower. (It was) freezing cold water and I was so p*ssed. A cold shower in the middle of a Toronto winter and I had to be under there for two minutes.”
Two minutes under the shower were enough for him to realize that this was a great way of getting into Wolverine’s character as it got him extremely p*ssed off. He explained the feeling, stating that he wanted to scream, but couldn’t (maybe didn’t want to wake the missus up). He related that exact feeling to Wolverine and there you have it, a perfectly angry Wolverine. Jackman has stated that every time he played the role since then, he made it a ritual to always take a cold shower beforehand, just to get ready for the character.
Hugh Jackman and His Extreme Ways
The cold showers weren’t the only torture Jackman subjected himself to. The Les Miserables actor put his body through hell to reach the shape he had when he played Wolverine. He talked about his extensive training regime where he goes all out for almost two hours. With an hour of heavyweights, 45 minutes of higher-volume lifting, and quite some cardio, Jackman was able to flaunt his Greek god-like physique. He even had his diet in check.
“I do about 2 1/2 hours of training a day when getting ready for the role, and food wise I eat more, but I eat a lot stricter. Seventy percent of your physique is your diet, and diet is the biggest change that happens.”
However, what does take the cake though, is Jackman resorting to dehydration to appear insanely ripped. While in conversation on the Late Show, he revealed that he would increase his water intake up to three gallons a day prior to shooting. Then, he stopped drinking any and all liquids for thirty-six hours before he was required to appear shirtless on camera.
With him reprising his role as Wolverine in the third installment of Deadpool, one can only wonder if Jackman is once again going to resort to his extreme ways or not.
Deadpool 3 is set to release on November 08, 2024.
Source: CheatSheet