It’s Hugh Jackman’s birthday today and we thought we’d celebrate this Aussie icon with a little trip down memory lane.
1. Pissing His Pants Onstage As Gaston
Hugh Jackman was an established stage actor for years before he broke into Hollywood and this story comes from one of his earliest performances as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast. Aside from a brilliant costume, Jackman had quite the embarrassing moment onstage as he told Graham Norton.
As Jackman tells it, he was getting bad headaches during and after performances and his naturopath told him he was dehydrated and needed to drink 3 litres of water every day. He drank four instead and despite visiting the bathroom before the show began, he had to pee again. Unfortunately for him, the muscles you need to release to sing are the same you need to tense in order to hold your pee in. Unfortunately, the very final note of the number is a big and extravagant moment and if he does it, he’ll probably wet himself. And that’s exactly what he did – wet himself in front of 2,000 people. The show must go on, as Jackman said.
2. Running Into His Former PE Student
Turns out Hugh Jackman also used to be a PE teacher in London and when he ran into one of his former students interviewing him at the Zurich Film Festival he decided to give him a gentle ribbing. It’s all harmless fun but it just goes to show what a genuinely good guy Jackman seems to be.
3. Dehydration Regime For 'Logan'
Jackman showed his dedication to his work here when he detailed the gruelling physical strain he put himself under to get the right look for his final appearance as Wolverine in Logan. To get that gaunt-but-ripped look, he performed a dehydration regime before shoots. Essentially, Jackman would up his water intake to three gallons per day leading up to shooting. Then 36 hours before he had to take his shirt off he would not drink anything at all. This was in addition to three months of working out before any of those scenes.
It worked and he got the look he wanted but he also recommended no one to try this at home because it can be quite detrimental to your health causing kidney damage, cramps, heat exhaustion, and potentially heatstroke.
4. The Other Scene You Remember From ‘Swordfish’
Swordfish is remembered for two scenes really, the Halle Berry topless scene in which she was paid an extra $500,000 to do, and the blowjob hacking scene with Hugh Jackman. It’s funny, it’s ridiculous, and it’s gratuitous but it is memorable. Gotta give credit to Jackman for being able to look John Travolta in the eyes while supposedly getting a blowjob.
5. His Flying Fox Entrance On Oprah
How to make a big entrance on Oprah in four easy steps:
Step 1: Set up flying fox on top of the Opera House to glide down to the stage.
Step 2: Go fast so it looks dramatic and slow down right before the end.
Step 3: Slow down… slow down…
Step 4: Don’t slow down and bonk your head on a lighting fixture
It’s classic funniest home videos kind of stuff. He was alright too, only receiving a slight cut near his eye.
6. The Wolverine Rampage Scene in X2
There had to be something like on here, right? This scene is just such a cool scene as Wolverine goes full-on rampage mode on some armed intruders. It’s well shot, well choreographed, and Jackman’s performance is fantastic as he switches from blind rage to genuine care for the young mutant students (probably using some of his experience as a teacher for inpsiratoin). A great Wolverine scene.
7. Wolverine’s Death In ‘Logan’
Hugh Jackman really cares about this character and he wanted to send him off right. Really everything about Logan is an achievement for Jackman and everyone involved but not only did they actually kill his character, they did it well. From being impaled by his monstrous cloned self to being called ‘dad’ by his adopted daughter, it’s all great.