Hugh Jackman

by Anthony Bunko

  Classed as a romantic comedy/murder mystery, the audience is never sure if Hugh’s character is really the killer until the end of the movie. The actor strived to make his character appear charming, but a bit reserved: ‘I saw him as someone who you’d find in the pages of Hello! or OK! magazines in England.’ He wanted Peter to be the debonair, about-town type, with a very well-established family, who dated the models du jour and drove expensive cars.

  Hugh found Woody to be incredibly personable, fun and terrific to work with and he particularly enjoyed the easy atmosphere on set that Allen’s presence created. ‘He was very calm, and then all of a sudden, at three in the afternoon, he would send us all home. It was almost like bankers’ hours. He didn’t do a lot of takes; there was not a lot of rehearsal. I had to kiss Scarlett in this movie; it’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. And Woody didn’t do a lot of takes of the scenes. However, on a personal note, it was good for me because when I went home to Debs, I could say, “Darling, one take, that’s all it was…”’

  The only slight problem he had to adjust to was Allen’s famous ad-libbing during takes. Hugh, of course, had worked with other actors who ad-libbed in the past, but no one did it better or funnier than the famous New Yorker himself. Hugh would end up laughing out loud, which on occasion would upset Allen: ‘He’d be like, “No, no, no, please, my character is boorish, he’s not funny.” I said, “But if you keep ad-libbing like that and I’m in the shot, I’m going to laugh. You’ve got to be a little more boring!”’

  Meanwhile, Woody Allen wouldn’t be Woody Allen if he wasn’t quirky. On one occasion while filming within a stately house, he suddenly disappeared. No one had any idea where he was until the sound of a clarinet came wafting through the air. Often he would turn to playing the instrument while thinking or waiting for a scene to be prepared, leaving the cast and crew lingering.

  Allen also had an unusual disdain for filming directly in sunlight. He believed it to be too harsh and thought that it made for a slight ugliness in the actors. It was the first time that Hugh could recall everyone being thrilled to have cloudy English skies: ‘I don’t know if he’d been setting out sacrifices to the gods, but it was like four weeks of straight cloudy weather with hardly any rain, extraordinary. Normally, people complain a lot there about the weather, but I was around a lot of very happy people. The whole thing was a real thrill, and a great opportunity. I’m forever grateful for it.’

  Despite his idiosyncrasies, Allen worked extremely well with everyone, especially Scarlett Johansson. Apparently, he had even written the script for Scoop with her in mind after working with her on Match Point. And Hugh could see why because he too found the actress to be quite an extraordinary woman, who could do anything she put her mind to and who seemed to come alive when on film. ‘On the set, we’d sing together. She can sing like an angel. She can dance, too. Pretty much everyone on the crew had a crush on her. She’s unbelievably down-to-earth, incredibly talented, very poised. There was not a hard day’s work on the entire movie when working with her.’ The pair would go on to work together on the film The Prestige later.

  Scoop did the same at the box office as most of Allen’s other movies, breaking even financially, with critics either loving or hating it. For Hugh, the entire experience of filming in the UK with the quintessential American director was invaluable. Just to have a Woody Allen film on his CV was enough, as he noticed when a stream of very experienced British actors turned up on set, happy to do a day’s filming and then leave. ‘They would come in just because they wanted to work with Woody Allen. There was not a lot of film work that happened in London, and certainly not a lot of films of the calibre of a Woody Allen movie. So, everyone working on it felt privileged and honoured.’ The unassuming Allen was just as bowled over by the calibre of actors he attracted. He would wander around the set muttering about how bad he felt because all he had for them was one line.

  The respect between actor and director was reciprocated. When Allen was asked if Cary Grant had been the inspiration behind Hugh Jackman’s character and performance, he simply replied, ‘No, I think that’s built into Hugh. He’s such a dapper, sweet, likable guy who can dance and move gracefully, and is so handsome and can sing, that comparisons are inevitable. You could always. Just as there was a time Hugh Grant would be compared with Cary Grant because he also is very debonair and charming. Well, so is Hugh Jackman, and it is an inevitable comparison.’

  Hugh’s next motion picture was full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences. It told the mysterious tale of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy. The Prestige, a British film directed by Christopher Nolan, adapted from Christopher Priest’s 1995 World Fantasy award-winning novel of the same name was released on 20 October 2006, a week earlier than Touchstone Pictures’ original planned release date of 27 October.

  From the moment they first meet as young magicians on the rise, Robert Angier and Alfred Borden are competitors. But their friendly competition evolves into a bitter rivalry, making them fierce enemies for life and consequently jeopardising the lives of everyone around them. Set against the backdrop of turn-of-the-century London, Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale star in the dramatic thriller as the magicians engaged in a bitter war of one-upmanship, with Michael Caine as Jackman’s mentor and David Bowie playing scientist Nikola Tesla. Hugh later stated that having the chance to work with Bowie was one of his main motivations for doing the film.

  The Prestige also provided the first meeting on screen of two superheroes: Jackman, aka Wolverine, and Bale, who had just come off the back of playing the dark and moody crusader, Batman. Although most action-hero fans around the world would rather have seen the two square up in a winner-takes-all showdown, The Prestige offered the opportunity for both actors to put aside their comic book-based characters and engage in a little magic.

  Hugh had always been a fan of Christian Bale, believing him to be a very dedicated and fearless actor. Although Bale’s image is sometimes portrayed by the media as very serious and private, Hugh saw a much lighter side to the caped crusader: ‘I think it’s fair to say he’s fairly low-key, relaxed, but he’s got a very cheeky sense of humour and is quite naughty.’ And the two shared a common interest at the time, which obviously helped. Both had new babies and spent their time between shots showing each other photographs and exchanging stories.

  Up to that point, Hugh had always been a fan of magic and over the years he had read a lot about Houdini’s life. He found the world of magicians fascinating, particularly around the Houdini era, where they were the celebrities of the day, treated like rock stars. Indeed, they had an incredible contact with the audience and were seen as mediators between this world and the next.

  Hugh was keen to learn more about the secret art of magic and all the tricks of the trade. To prepare for the role, he spent a lot of time with magicians Ricky Jay and Michael Weber, learning how to carry out magic tricks convincingly and with the grace of a seasoned magician. He modelled his character, in terms of style, on a character called Channing Pollock, an American magician of the 1950s who actually became a film star in France later on in his life.

  As well as the prospect of meeting and working with rock god, David Bowie, Hugh was also privileged to work alongside one of the world’s most acclaimed actors, Sir Michael Caine. ‘I learned a lot. You learn a lot from working with someone like Michael. I remember at drama school I watched Michael Caine’s one-hour video on filmmaking. I was talking to him all about that and then I kept asking him more questions. He just kept giving me little acting tips and techniques all the time. Wonderful.’

  The pair developed a great relationship on set and off, going out together many times while filming. Hugh found him to be a great person to be around – knowledgeable and passionate about cooking, with a strange infatuation for making one of England’s best-known specialities: the chip. ‘I didn’t know he had several restaurants dotted
about London and Miami. He taught me how to make good chips. He explained in great Michael Caine detail how to cook them just right, what oils to use and what are the best cooking times to get the perfect chip. He talked about them for ages.’

  The Prestige was quite successful at the box office. On its opening weekend, it earned over $14 million in the United States, debuting at number one. It proceeded to gross $53 million domestically and earned an overall worldwide total of over $109 million. Generally, it received favourable reviews from film critics, with a consensus that it was full of plot twists that challenged the viewer throughout. The film received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction and the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, as well as a nomination for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form in 2007.

  With the rabbit firmly back in the magician’s top hat, Hugh finally got the chance to become involved in a project that he’d been dying to get his actor’s teeth into for ages. It had started back in 2002 when Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett signed up to appear in The Fountain, which was budgeted at $75 million. The script received positive word of mouth from online film websites and everything was looking good to go. Then Pitt suddenly dropped out, and despite the fact that sets had already been constructed, the film was shut down. Warner Brothers, who were producing the movie, had become nervous and wanted a co-financier to help fund the risky project before production could begin again.

  Visionary director Darren Aronofsky re-wrote the script so that it could be made on a smaller budget of $35 million and he recruited the less-expensive Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz before the film was eventually given the green light.

  Part of the appeal for Hugh was the chance to play three incarnations of the same character in his quest for eternal youth and the love of his life, or lives. The movie involves three parallel stories about love, death, spirituality and the fragility of existence, as told through the odyssey taken on by one man in his 1,000-year struggle to save the woman he loves, played by Rachel Weisz. The epic journey begins in 16th-century Spain, where, as conquistador Tomas Creo, Hugh commences his search for the ‘Tree of Life’, the legendary entity believed to grant eternal life to those who drink its sap. As modern-day scientist Tommy Creo, he desperately struggles to find a cure for the cancer that is killing his beloved wife, Isabel. In the last section, he travels through deep space as a 26th-century astronaut trying to grasp the mysteries of life that have consumed him for more than a century.

  Hugh, who first met Aronofsky earlier on his road to stardom while playing Peter Allen, admitted that there was no question about him taking the role when the opportunity presented itself: ‘When I read the script I was so blown away by it, I was crying at the end. Though I didn’t fully understand it on the first read through,’ he conceded, with a wry smirk. ‘But I got the feeling of what he was trying to say, and it really moved me. Now, I understand movies, and with a lot of scripts I get ‘em within the first ten minutes, but they don’t move me. This is the first time I’ve ever cried reading a script. I also found it very engaging, and I did find myself flicking backwards and forwards a little bit.’

  Fans of Jackman saw a far more raw and emotional side to the actor than they had ever witnessed before. To get to those dark places was a greater challenge than pulling off the emotional side of the Wolverine character. Hugh had never really been given the opportunity to play scenes that required that rawness before, and it was emotionally very draining for him as well as slightly uncomfortable to watch at the première.

  He credited Aronofsky with creating an atmosphere on set that was very private and comfortable: ‘The scenes were raw. But we worked a lot on them and I think I had a great relationship with Rachel and with the director, Darren Aronofsky, and he wanted me to be this guy dealing with the death of his wife. I mean, it’s pretty full-on, you know. And the script was very weighty, so I thought finally I had a script which took me emotionally to my limit. And the script was equal to that, you know what I mean? There’s no point in putting it all out there on a script that really doesn’t demand it, and this one did.’

  To reach the real emotional parts, he forced himself to think heartbreaking thoughts such as the idea of something tragic happening to his own wife or children: ‘I mean, I think anyone who has loved or has a kid or wife or whatever, you feel you’ll do anything, if you could. You know, there are stories all the time of people jumping in front of buses, lifting cars, so human possibilities are immense. But of course as an actor you put yourself in that situation; it’s a funny mix of techniques, I suppose.’

  And it worked. During one emotional scene he cried so much that Aronofsky was amazed, telling him he’d never seen snot bubbles on film before. Sadly, after much debate, that particular shot didn’t make the final cut.

  Unpredictably, the physical demands required of the role were equally as tough as the mental ones. One of the most amazing physical feats was when Hugh, shaved bald, hovers in outer space, surrounded by a transparent bubble. It saw him in full lotus position, spinning upside down, stretching out into a traditional Superman flying pose, before floating away. Many commented that it was just a standard Hollywood effect shot. But it wasn’t. He performed the stunt without any effects or stunt crew. According to Aronofsky, what people saw in the film was take 19: ‘We had Hugh in that tank for three days. He never complained once.’

  In fact, it took him over a year of training to achieve the lotus position and another three months to be able to hold it long enough for the underwater takes. He blankly refused a body-double. ‘Oh, by the way, this was probably the most physical role I’ve ever done. I know it probably looks easy, but I don’t know if you’ve tried to get into the lotus position, And T’ai Chi, I did T’ai Chi for a year in order to pull off what is ultimately about ten seconds of film. And the last three days of shooting I was in the lotus position, 20ft underwater, locked into this bar. I was underwater for eight hours a day. And the lotus position took me 14 months to get. I did an hour and a half a day of yoga to be able to get there without injuring myself.’

  It was exhausting work. One lunchtime, Hugh went back to his trailer and he was so tired that he couldn’t even eat; he just fell asleep lying on the floor. Many nights, he went straight to bed, only to rise the next morning at the ungodly hour of 4am to do yoga for an hour and a half before work. He was living the life of a monk in a Hollywood superstar’s body.

  ‘I dropped quite a lot of weight for the whole thing… yeah, I was pretty lean. Darren really wanted for me to be lean, as lean as I could be. I was working so hard I wasn’t that hungry and didn’t eat.’

  Unfortunately, The Fountain didn’t exactly set the box-office alight and disappeared after only one week. The advertising campaign was seemingly non-existent. When it came out in the UK, despite the generally better reviews, it was only shown in one London cinema. Yet Hugh was positively upbeat and incredibly proud of what he had achieved in the role. He knew that because of the subject matter and the way it was shot, it would be one of those love-it or hate-it movies.

  He was disappointed, however, when news broke that the film was actually booed in Venice. At the press screening, about 80 per cent of the audience gave a standing ovation and only about 20 per cent booed, causing a fight to break out between certain members of the press. Two of them had to be pulled apart. Hugh thought that that in itself was a great story.

  Next on the horizon, he took his chance to dip not only his toe, but to dive headfirst, fully-clothed and without the aid of a life jacket into the special and wonderful world of animation. First up came the British film Flushed Away, where the super-busy Jackman provided the voice of pampered house mouse, Roddy St James.

  Flushed Away is a computer-animated British film partnered between Aardman Animations of Wallace & Gromit fame and DreamWorks Animation. It was directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell, and because of the large number of water scenes, it was Aardman’s first completely computer-animated feature as opposed
to their usual stop-motion action done with clay figures.

  Naturally, Hugh was excited to be working with the Aardman crew, who he described as the best in the business. What’s more, not only did it have an impressive cast with Kate Winslet as Rita Malone, Sir Ian McKellen as the Toad, and a host of other British stars, the writing team assembled were top drawer, with Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais and Christopher Lloyd leading the pack. It was a match made in animation heaven, with many predicting a first-rate film with numerous awards to follow.

  The story focuses on Roddy St James, a decidedly upper-crust pet rat, who makes his home in a smart Kensington flat. When a common sewer rat named Sid comes spewing out of the sink and decides to stay, Roddy schemes a way to get rid of Sid by luring him into the ‘jacuzzi’ – actually the toilet bowl. Sid may be an ignorant slob, but being a sewer rat, he does know his plumbing. He plays along and when given the opportunity pushes Roddy into the toilet instead and flushes him away into the sewers. Roddy gains the assistance of Rita Malone, an enterprising scavenger rat, who works the drains in her faithful boat, the Jammy Dodger. Roddy’s aim is to get home, while dodging the evil Toad.

  Fascinatingly, the original concept for the movie involved pirates, but when it was pitched to DreamWorks in 2000, Aardman was told there was no market for pirate films. A few years later, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was released to unprecedented success.

  Flushed Away became Hugh’s first attempt at swimming in the animation pool and he loved every minute of it, although he did miss the interaction with other actors as he often found himself alone in a sound booth. Although he shared lots of voice time on screen opposite the Kate Winslet character, Rita, they hardly met during the filming process: ‘I do know Kate and we do actually get on very well together. The thing is, to be honest, Kate is one of the best actors around, so she can make anything work and I think we did. What happened was once she started to record more and I was recording, I would listen to her a lot. Sometimes they would even play her to me so I could hear her.’