Hugh Jackman on 'The Front Runner,' Stan Lee, _ the Future of 'X-Men' _ MTV News

Love what you've done with the place. Do you like it? It's amazing. Thanks, buddy You know and just the choice of plants that you have minimal, but the feng shui is working for you. It's perfect. It's amazing It's a lot that you have Let me throw some compliments at you. The frontrunner is excellent. You and Jason Reitman collaborating for the first time. Yeah Hopefully of many I and please say it to him anytime you say forget working with JK Simmons in every movie You've got to work with you You're part of the stable of the stars now the actors he repeats as he does repeat It struck me when I was I knew I was gonna sit down with you and reminisce. It's our 10-year anniversary Literally the first time we ever sat down together was for Australia, November of 2008. Wow, you brought it present Oh, I was 12. That's amazing. Yeah. So yeah when I first met you you had just been named sexiest man alive, right? Do you dread every year this time of year as a? Sexiest man alive when you hear the new guy that you have to weigh in on this punk Idris Elba being the new sexiest man Alive, I see this the first I've heard about it in my head time stopped ten years ago There has been no other people since then. I mean Ryan does like to bring it up occasionally, but Everyone knows that it doesn't really mean anything now, but ten years ago. It meant something because it was Yeah, it was kind of Now it's sort of Chuck. It was cool. Yeah, it was genuinely chosen in a worldwide vote by the people Right. Oh, yeah people actually voted it not just voted They put they had to write in like an envelope stamp writing handwritten and they would send it in by the millions And now it's just like who's got the best publicist, but I'm not bitter about that because you know It's like a whole different world. At least Ryan hasn't repeated That's true who has repeated Johnny Depp's repeated. Oh, so you've studied this you studied this it all came in all seriousness when I got it The people from people said to me I just want you to know that no matter what you do you can win an Oscar You're gonna host the Oscars no matter what you do This will come up more than anything and I thought they were being a little facetious a little arrogant Maybe thinking that they were right. Yeah a hundred percent, right? I get asked this question by the way thrilled about I don't mind bring it up I feel like I've gotten to know you in kind of the best ten years of your career in that like your 20s was probably There was some struggle. There was some theater back in Australia Your 30s was kind of the the first blush of like success with Wolverine and the 40s is kind of when it got really interesting Yep, I totally agree. I'm lucky in that It's felt and I think probably in actuality being a bit like this. Yeah, you know, I Always felt like and I went to drama school. I just went like in the first year drama school I really felt like the dunce of the class. It took me three or four months I wasn't like there was nothing about me, you know in high school the where I was a little brown people like oh This is the guy I feel like I've learned as I've gotten and got better and thankfully The opportunities have got better the directors have worked with it got better and I'm really pinch myself and now where am I? What do you think that the best? Professional decision you've made has been in your career because obviously in the early going you're just taking the best Opportunity sometimes the only opportunity early on in the career is that looking back? Is there a choice that you've made in the last decade? That's really set you on this correct path this right path, you know the choice to really hone in on directors Yeah, and that was advice I got from Nicole Kidman actually and then if you look what she's done and the variety of directors They're constantly seeking out independent filmmakers new filmmakers established filmmakers commercial filmmakers Yeah, but she always This is a director business Film is a director-led medium So you need to know that your performance and your craft is in the hands of someone who gets it He's not only gonna get what you do, but it's gonna push you so that was advice that I took to heart but When you were saying that the first thing that popped in my head was the very first commercial decision I ever made when I was 23, okay, and I was offered a part on neighbors, which is a show. You don't know Yeah, yeah, and it's become quite famous and a lot of people it's a it's a soap opera bit at seven o'clock at night So I suppose like a my day of Melrose That kind of thing and I was offered a two-year contract on that at the same time I was offered a place for three years acting course, right and I took the acting course and and I look back now and go That was the turning point to me. Was that because you felt you still need to hold your craft? Yeah, I mean I was aware that you learn a lot like I'm being in a show like that You certainly learn a lot about film acting about working with people about the demands of TV of an Technique all of that and I'm sure that you get very comfortable with and then it would have been helpful Sure, but my thing was I really want to go to the Royal Shakespeare Company in the National Theatre I want to be on Broadway does two years on neighbors make me feel internally right that when I turn up for that audition for Whatever on Broadway that I should be there because I I firmly believe and I say this to young actors all the time Do whatever you got to do? To internally feel like you deserve the job because if you walk into that audition they sense the fear they sense the trepidation They do yeah, and and for good reason because if you're a producer or director as you know, well You want someone to take that weight off your shoulders? No one's more nervous than the director or producer, right? So they want the actor to walk in and for them to go They solved my problem here is Thank God and by the way, I'm not gonna have to worry for the 94 days that he's on set Yeah, no, but there's others 96 people. I've got away and that's what they want Yeah, you need to do so you do you need to do your work? But you need to feel you belong in there you deserve it and those three years gave me that so jumping ahead to you were mentioning directors that you've Pursued and gravitated towards you're saying Jason right in the first time you've collaborated with him frontrunner is an amazing story It's a story that I know well Because I was kind of like a weirdly oddly political journalism junkie as a kid And I remember 1987 88 Gary Hart was the frontrunner at that time. What? I'm still a shock that you were So that's interesting what was your sense of Gary Hart at the time? Well, I do vividly remember that scandal the monkey business all right And I wonder what a twelve-year-old made of that because it was probably one of the first times I even knew about infidelity, right? Scandal was yeah, but it was a first for all of us. I think yeah for everybody including the the campaign team You know right? I mean, that's what's so fascinating So this this film really marks a shift in in many ways in terms of how politicians were covered and what was fair game What do you make of that ship? I mean, this is very apropos to today where we talk about the personal lives of our politicians, right? You feel like it was a positive shift for mankind Do you feel like this was the tipping point where it all went to hell or well? And I'm gonna quote my character Gary Hart in his final speech He said some things in public life are interesting, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're important, right? And he understood that he got that people kind of want to know the name of your dog and what's going on with the marriage He'd been separated a couple of times. They're back together, you know, do you wear boxes or briefs? You know, of course, we loved it when Bill Clinton played saxophone on our senior hall there You know when Obama crushes the White House correspondents, you know, we love that it's kind of cool and relatable and great But it is it important? Is it relevant? And so this was the shifting sands at the time you've got Gary who is a private person by nature going from the most public position in the world right and one of the most important positions right leader of the free world and There was a poll at the time And this is always stuck in my head where 64% of the population felt that the media had gone too far prying into Gary Hart's private life and So you would think of 64%? Well, everyone's gonna back off But you know the train had left the station and this this is where the change and I don't think Gary or his campaign team Saw that coming the other thing people forget and assume is that this scandal brought down Gary Hart Gary left Voluntarily, right so three months after he left He was still polling at 40% the next closest candidate was 16% So even despite people knowing this he was up here, but he voluntarily said I'm not gonna be part of this Yeah, I need to protect my family every time I ask a question about Donna Rice or anything else? I'm talking about the mother of you know, my relationship with my children. My children are adults And also am I gonna sully the political process forever Not dissimilar to what is going on in the movie with Ben Bradley at The Washington Post. Yep That's what's fascinating about the story is looking at this time Where a bunch of humans not just my character all 20 characters. The stakes are high and they're Grappling with never having been in this situation before and grappling with conscience and principle It also it shocked me when I was looking at this film and in relation to other characters You've played in your career and that you've never played a real person I mean you've been keeping part of another heightened kind of a thing and you're not right exactly the movie So were you surprised that at the pressure that that put on your shoulders? I must have known going in that there would be a different set of expectations and eyeballs namely Gary Hart's, right? I mean there was pressure playing Wolverine, but no one has actually ever seen him Now, you know and I reached out to him a lot and he never so I'm not 100% sure if he is a lot I mean, I know everyone says he is right, right, you know, but not sure But in in all seriousness, yeah, the pressure was high on this on for many reasons. It's it's a real person human being Still married for 60 years. I met him His wife spent time with him said in the house spent time with their children Yeah, and this is the worst three weeks of their life, right? It's never gonna be easy even if we completely nail it right it's gonna be hard and So then it was very important that there was a good reason to tell it and that he knew That I took it seriously that I I honored his legacy and that I was making the movie To start real conversation, right? Do you think that's you being? Australian born obviously made much of your life here in America the last 20 years That gives you a different interesting perspective on our political system Possibly I think maybe that distance helps Yeah Because I'm not sort of embroiled in a lot of the partisan debate and things are very different in Australia For example, we have compulsory voting. So everybody is part of the process with the or you get a $50 fine, you know I want to try that one It's a game-changer. Yeah, very different, but I had to learn a lot You know, it's interesting Jason Reitman is originally Canadian, of course brought up here son of Ivan Reitman and a big part of the industry but you have to understand and I You probably know this you're American. They there's that famous saying, you know when America sneezes Australia catches a cold, you know, it's We're linked the links not just as allies I don't know if you know but Australia's been to every war since the Second World War American bases on Australian soil and we are linked we linked I grew up on American television, but now What happens in the world so much is predicated by who is in the White House going back? I'm just curious when you started to make your wife here. Was there any American? aspect of culture Custom that you could not wrap your brain around that felt altogether foreign Yeah Sweet pumpkin pie Marshmallow on pumpkin pie. This is a great thing. That's what you're saying. It's actually great. Yeah, but I resisted it for I was like well I only know pumpkin the amounts you get when you go to a restaurant the food right the also the amounts of Serviettes and Disposable utensils short. I'm one guy. I don't right. I don't know what I'm gonna do with each monster the amounts of food No, I mean I've really embraced the light and I'll tell you what I've embraced more than anything is the spirit of America the generosity and a positivity and I know for sure that if I'm gonna say this 30 Australian actors doing really well, right? Yep in America at least 30. Oh, yeah, I doubt Australia would allow Three American actors to come in with Australian accents and take the plum jobs, but not only here. Is it allowed you get a Doing and it constantly Amazes me and I think it must come from a like generosity of spirit 100% generosity and also a confidence. Yeah, it's okay Like we're an immigrant sort of we're young to with three four hundred years old Everyone comes from somewhere and that's okay You know, I'm in New York as you know The heartbeat of New York is people who come from another place whether it's another state or you know We were saying when we sat down we were reminiscing ten years Of talking the first time I ever saw you was at comic-con, which is altogether more poignant now 2008 comic-con Yeah, and you and Stanley Yeah, I've actually literally I was going to my phone I photos I took of you guys together on that carpet I remember that carpet. I can't believe it. I would love to get a copy that I'll show you the photo right now Really? It's kind of really really pretty special because I remember it was 2008. I'd done three X-Men movies. We'd announced Wolverine I think As I recall you didn't know he was gonna be there right I did not know he was gonna be there at all and When I first met him, I was not a hundred percent sure he knew I think it was that was the first time I met him and that's a more amazing. Please send that to me. I won't Because you know you if you're Wolverine and you go to comic-con It's a good day for you. You know, I was getting some love and I remember that carpet really well and when you look that all of the cameras were like and I looked down I was like That is cool, did Stan ever say anything to you that was particularly Special or poignant. He was obviously just a huge spirit a huge life force. I was really like taken back by how relaxed and happy and I got the sense of a man who had become a god within a subculture, right? And this subculture had become at mainstream and at age 75 right getting Respect and adulation on this and he was I don't ever want to make it so like and he was like, yeah Amazing we were sort of we're the kids in our basement drawing pictures and you know We know a few people and then 30,000 of us get together It's 30,000 of us dressing up and Star Wars and this and now there's a million and a half And all of a sudden everyone's caught in the movie studios everybody was caught in them and then and it was You just got the sense of it. He's a kid in the candy store Still loves me. He's like a kid. Yeah, and he was just really warm and hey, man Like he would turn up to do all those cameos. Yep Thinking this is the greatest. I'm in an X-Men movie. They're bringing the stuff that's been in my head and on the page They're bringing it to life. I mean, there's no man more responsible for the culture. We're living in now You realize what seemed to be comics and maybe not that important at the time and it was often Bit like children's literature. There was a point where comics is like now It's just for kids and this and that and you realize all of a sudden X-Men was really About Martin Luther King and you know Malcolm X that you had Black Panther you had women you had all these really subversive strong powerful social messages that were happening and That was changing the world as much as any much You couldn't have gone out on a better note Performance unbelievable film that being said and it's not coming from me Ryan Reynolds It will not shut up about this every time I see him every time he talks to anybody So this is not even my question But is he wearing you down at all because it doesn't seem like he's given up in trying years I used to take the calls. I don't take him anymore. I do not go to his house anymore It's funny. I meet up with Blake and the kids right and I ring Blake and I go easy on set like oh, right I popped in you weren't there He wants obviously your character and Deadpool together because it's on paper and that would be magical But I kind of get that and when I saw it, it was like wow, that's cool It was it that's just a matter of timing It's a bit like you're you're the greatest party ever been at you've been dancing for an hour and a half and then you just Like it's time. Okay, if I stay any longer, it's gonna get ugly It's like it's time and on the way home. Someone calls you and goes There's put Michael Jackson on you're gonna get back here and a little part of you goes Yeah, and but I'm cheering for you go man go dance away go for it for posterity Do you want to make one last? Declaration I Hugh Jackman never played Wolverine ever again. I just hate those declarations But I'm done. I'm done. Okay. Yeah, those things haunt you then some way they haunt you that was my whole goal I know I know you know, you know what I'm thinking Are you also curious just now as a fan to see what X-Men will be like? Oh, yeah Kevin Feige and a hundred percent Kevin was there and X-Men one short when I went from my first audition The audition that was really not a real audition because do go Scott was gonna play it and I think I was sent up there Just to kind of send a message back to Mission Impossible 2 like you better hurry up because we're gonna start looking at other people I didn't think it was a real audition Even then Kevin Feige said let me drive you to the airport. I said Like I was kind of saying And not only that on the way he says come on Let's just grab a bite to eat and we just sat and him Tom DeSando myself had dinner and in my head I was just kind of you're a good guy. And when I got the part, I remember going into his office, right? Wall to wall comic books and by the way comic books were banned on the set Because Bryan Singer had this thing that people would think he really wanted to take comic book characters seriously as real three-dimensional characters People who don't understand these comics might think they're two-dimensional. So no one was allowed everyone It was a contraband that people I've never read X-Men. So people this slipped under my door. I'm having a look I'm reading these things. I'm looking because I got these are brilliant. Look at the physicality and so I would go into Kevin Feige's office And it was wall-to-wall Not only comics all over the like posters Yeah, but about 600 figurines of different characters You go to the origins and so he was slipping me stuff and we've stayed friends ever since and nothing makes me happier to know that someone who is purely Creative right purely a lover of the legacy of those comic books. Is this successful, you know? You hear all the time. Oh Hollywood's run by suits. Okay, Kevin Feige That's not a suit if it's a suit a passion if it's a suit It's like got a cape and it's an X-Men suit. There is nothing corporate about him and yet he's incredibly successful and I Love it. Do you think you would ever? Play another comic book character and say DC. Yeah, I'll be open to that you what? Yeah for sure I mean for me, I never saw it as a superhero even when I got Logan and I didn't know much about The X-Men series or comic book series I was like, these are great characters the all of these people are flawed characters, right sure They have extraordinary abilities, right, but they're all Really flawed and that's what the movie is about. That's why people relate to it There's a wish fulfillment of like I wish I had cause but ultimately I'm like, yeah, I know what it's like to be marginalized I know what it's like to be not taken seriously or misunderstood. If only I had the bloody claws, you know, so I See why they've been so successful and I've kind of been blown away. It's certainly exceeded every expectation They're getting better and better and better. Yeah Yeah, do you feel like they're keeping you in touch with pop culture that you might otherwise might have not be my son No, he kind of rejects almost everything about pop culture And he's serious minded and he talks to me more about Joseph Campbell than he does anything else Which ironically Joseph Campbell was the impetus behind Star Wars, right? So anyway, he mythology history Anthropology my daughter. Yeah, we'll be going to the Jingle Ball together Okay, having said that I've got a pop pop culture. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we'll see. Let's see how well she's a Cardi B There might be a card Here's a pop pop culture quiz for Hugh Jackman. What is flossing? Oh It's a type of dance and I only found that out about a week ago I was about to give you an old man's very boring dental hygiene answer, but no were people flossing on your birthday party No, okay, but I wish What album did Cardi B release this year? Cardi B's album can't tell you the name. Untitled Cardi B. It's title. It's actually invasion of privacy Do you have a prediction as to who will end up on the Iron Throne? And do you know what I'm talking about? I've gone straight to Ablutions and bathroom and toilets I've never seen it and I feel so bad about it because my brother-in-law is stunt coordinator on it And there's one a bunch of SAG Awards and Emmys and I feel sorry you only have about 85 hours I think you're up on your pop culture. You're good and Congratulations and all thank you You're always I love I mean what's exciting now is kind of post Wolverine You're getting these all these kind of new opportunities and really mix it up with filmmakers like Jason Reitman You always have a spot in my work couch in this random really as I slip into obscurity You'll still have me I will support you no matter what Ten more years to come