For many, our first introduction toHugh Jackmanwas as Wolverine in Brian Singer’s firstX-Menfilm. Gruff, grizzled, and short on words, Jackman’s Wolverine brought the clawed mutant to life. So much so, in fact, that no one else has played the character in a live-action film.
But Jackman didn’t always picture himself as an action star. From the beginning of his acting life, the young Australian was married to the theater. In a 2014 interview withVogue, the actor said of the stage “It’s a love that’s never waned since I was five, doingCamelotat my primary school.” Another childhood role? Salesman #2 from the opening toThe Music Man. Jackman isn’t shy about sharing the story of how he auditioned for the lead role by learning all eight parts of the opening numberRock Island.
Hugh Jackman has had an extraordinary film career, but reading through that career leaves one with the immense sense that the stage is where this actor feels most at home.
Hugh Jackman’s Pre-Broadway Career
Right out of college, Jackman found work on Australian television and film such as the miniseriesCorelliand the romantic comedyPaperback Hero. Among the Australian theater crowd, the actor was making a name for himself as Gaston in Walt Disney’s Australian production ofBeauty and the Beastand as Joe Gillis inSunset Boulevard. This popularity exploded following Jackman’s next big theater role as Curly in the Olivier award-winning West End revival ofOklahoma!in 1998.
The production was filmed and released to the public in 1999, meaning everyone could get a taste of this new acing talent. It didn’t take long before Jackman would make another huge leap in his career on the stage and on the screen.
From Stage to Screen and Back Again
Hugh Jackman wasn’t Brian Singer’s first choice to play the claw-wielding Canuck Wolverine in the character’s big-screen debut;the director wanted to hire Russell Crowe first. Crowe, a friend of Jackman’s, ceded the role and suggested his friend for the part. Jackman has since been the only actor to play the character in live action and has a Guinness World Record to prove it.
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While Jackman was blowing up as an action star, he would play quite a different role in his big Broadway break inThe Boy from Oz. Jackman starred as Peter Allen, a famed Australian singer-songwriter, in a jukebox musical depicting the artist’s life story. Reviews for the show weren’t exactly positive. Critics point to the show’s thread-bare writing, scanty set design, and misplaced musical numbers. Jackman stood out nevertheless, winning his first Tony Award for the role in 2004.
Broadway Kept Calling Jackman Back
AfterThe Boy from Oz, Jackman would take a break from the theater and focus on his career in film. This included playing Wolverine in subsequentX-Mensequels and spinoffs, as well as starring roles in movies likeThe FountainandThe Prestige. In 2009, Jackman returned to Broadway, this time alongsideJames Bondstar Daniel Craig.
A Steady Rainis a minimalist show with only two actors and without much of a set. It tells the story of two Chicago beat cops in the 1970s who must reckon with their failings, including the incident when the two unwittingly returned a young Vietnamese boy to a Dahmer-esque killer. Reviews were generally positive, with critics praising the action stars’ performances in such a stripped-down setting.
The actor would appear in another more minimal piece, the 2014 playThe River. The play follows Jackman — the Man — alongside two other characters — the Woman and the Other Woman —through a non-linear narrativethat reflects on life, love, and fly-fishing. Jackman often emerges as a highlight in reviews ofThe Riverfor his “darkly romantic” turn as the Man.
Starring in a Biography
Jackman’s cinema fans would finally get the opportunity to experience him in a musical again in the 2012 film version ofLes Misérables. Many were dazzled by director Tom Hooper’s bombastic rendition of the musical classic, while some criticized Russell Crowe’s performance and the film’s use of live singing. Jackman and several of his costars, including Anne Hathaway and Eddie Redmayne, were highly praised for their performances, with Jackman receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Related:10 Broadway Musicals That Would Make for Great Film Adaptations
Movie-going audiences would get another chance to see Jackman in a larger-than-life musical in 2017 when he starred in the original musicalThe Greatest Showman. This heavily fictionalized biography of circus showman P.T. Barnum was a huge success, becoming the third-highest-grossing musical film in North America at the time.
The Music Man Returns to His Roots
Hugh Jackman would make his long-awaited return toThe Music Manin 2022, this time in the lead. This classic Broadway musical follows con man Harold Hill as he tries to swindle a small town, only to fall in love with the community and its illusive librarian Marian Paroo. The show was a smash hit, receiving several Tony nominations including Best Revival of a Musical and Best Actor in a Musical.
AlthoughThe Music Manextended its run, the show eventually had to come to a close so that Jackman could prepare for his next role: reprising Wolverine one more time forDeadpool 3. But no matter how many action movies Jackman does, journeying through his career gives the concrete impression that the theater is where the actor feels most at home.
