(PCM) Going back in time is always a way to open your eyes to the infinite possibilities and changes in your destiny. Having Hugh Jackman as your tour guide, is a big plus.
His latest heroic endeavor is the film X-Men: Days of Future Past, a huge, dramatic, and provocative story that is propelled by richly conceived characters.
Jackman’s Logan/Wolverine is at the centerpiece of the riveting film, which opens on Friday, May 23. The film from 20th Century Fox, X-Men: Days of Future Past, is a visual power-house; a feast for the eyes.
During a recent warm and rainy day at a posh hotel in Manhattan, Jackman, showed up without his “claws and weird hair,” but he was in top form. He was charming, friendly, amusing, and had a great banter with Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender.
With many X-Men and Wolverine films behind him, Hugh could be tired of his flawed superhero character of Logan, but this is not the case.
In fact, X-Men: Days of Future Past has Jackman, 45, literally flying high. A devoted family man, Jackman and his wife, Deborra-Lee, have been married for 18 years, and are the parents of Oscar, 14, and Ava, 9,. Jackman said that taking his children to the set, rigging them up and letting them become Peter Pan for the day, is one of the sheer pleasures of his job.
Q: Please tell me what it’s like to fly in a movie, is it euphoric or disturbing?
HUGH JACKMAN: I have done it a few times. But I have had my children as they’ve grown up, on rehearsal stages. And it has ruined Disneyland for them, for life!
Q: Why is that?
HJ: Because they have flown on those wires. And on these films, the stunt guys are great. They just rig up the kids. Yeah. And I really actually love it. It’s great fun.
Q: So, what did you learn from this movie, about your younger self?
HJ: I think what screen-writer, Simon Kingberg, did so brilliantly with the script, was invert what happened in X One. Where Professor X was a mentor or guide for Wolverine. And then that became the opposite in this movie. And in fact there’s so much about this script. About reflecting on how you recall back for fans, there’s so many great surprises, for fans of the X-Men. Not in the comics, but the film series.
Q: What else can you say about that?
HJ: Well, you still make the film feel, like not just a celebration, but a fresh beginning. I feel like watching this movie, like we could start again. It feels like an opening, they did a brilliant job with that. And for Wolverine going back into the 70s, I just think that’s perfect. I think Wolverine never wanted to leave the 70s! You know, the hair, the mutton chops! The clothes, the cars, and everything! I mean, I think the moment that Tears For Fears, Flock Of Seagulls, Wham!, Duran, Duran came along, Wolverine was like, I’m out!
Q: Talk about your character of Logan in this movie.
HJ: Logan sees himself, for the first time in a long while, as part of the X-Men team. He has come to terms with the fact that his anger is his greatest weapon. He is a warrior at peace with himself now. Being the only mutant with the capacity to heal himself, Logan volunteers to travel back in time to prevent the mutant apocalypse that the X-Men of the future are facing.
Q: Where do you want to take Logan next?
HJ: I don’t know yet, we’re talking it through. I still am very ambitious for the character. And tonally, I feel like we corrected the ship with the last one. But I feel we can still go further, in a way. If I did another one I’m ninety nine point nine percent sure it would be the last. So that will inform what it is for me.
Q: How intense was this movie for you?
HJ: It’s difficult for me to answer. Because, I don’t really talk to anyone when we’re on set. I don’t like people looking at me, that sort of thing! But it’s weirdly with a cast like this, it sort of felt in a way like two films. Because the beginning was the future which was like an incredible reunion, for all of us. And then on came the younger, more inexperienced actors.
Q: How come you call them that?
HJ: Then should we just call them inexperienced! Yes! Uh, no. And the whole time, as intense as the material was, it was unbelievable. And I’m probably uniquely qualified to say that, having worked with everyone. That being on the set throughout the whole thing; it was a joy.
Q: Tell me more.
HJ: This film has always had a great bond from the beginning. Everyone is very passionate about it, and takes it very seriously. But it’s as lot of fun. But in terms of intensity, I remember very clearly, sitting at the back of that plane. You know, watching those guys go at it. And I say this absolutely sincerely, that I thought it would be. I was never sure it would be possible to fill the shoes of Ian and Patrick. And you know; what they did in X-Men.
Q: What else was involved early on?
HJ: When I saw X-Men First Class, I realized that these guys did it, with such aplomb and confidence. And not only did they feel like the younger versions – Sorry! – the more inexperienced versions of those characters! But they also had made it their own. And it’s an incredible feat, what these guys did, they anchored the films with this.
Q: Would you take the Wolverine story back to Japan, or would you move it beyond that story?
HJ: I’d probably move it to a different visual palette. And I’m pretty sure that it would move.
Q: Are there any classic comic-book story lines that you’d love to get into?
HJ: Well of course we’re looking at Old Man Logan because that may be the only option left at this point! But we are looking at a lot of different story lines. No one has jumped out. You can tell from my answer that we’re still working it out. I’m working with [Wolverine director] Jim Mangold, which is exciting. Jim came on board The Wolverine after Darren left, so he inherited it. And of all the things that Jim can do, one of the great things he does is develop scripts. And I’m excited to see what we can come up with. But I haven’t signed on. I’m genuinely at that point where unless it’s better than the last one, I’m not going to do it.
Q: What if it is as good as the last one?
HJ: If the script is as good? Hmm, I don’t know if that will get me across the line, man.
Q: Talk about your relationship with this guy, Wolverine?
HJ: Yeah well, in 1953 I got the part…No, it sometimes feels like that! But it was in the past century! In 1999.And it’s weird; I actually am enjoying playing him more than ever. And I was kind of reflecting on that when somebody asked me, well why would that be? And I don’t know, Wolverine is somewhere between the ages of 150 and 300. And on some of those four o’clock mornings, I felt about 300 years old!
Q: What do you feel is the appeal of dark themes like in Wolverine?
HJ: I think it’s in the DNA of the comic book for X-Men. Because when it came about in the 1960s, Wolverine was one of the first sorts of anti-heroes. And all of the powers of all those characters stem from an emotional place. But let’s just look at Wolverine. He has claws. And he can heal himself. But his really defining characteristic is that Berserker rage. And of course there is the idea that of all them on paper, he may not the greatest powers. But he’s the last person you want to piss off. He’s the person you want on your side. And that’s what makes him formidable.
Q: What else can you say about this?
HJ: Well, that’s why I think teenagers in particular, relate to it. Because there is confusion, there is emotion. There is unresolved anger. And all these characters, they somehow use that dysfunction, that pain, that indecision. All those things that are within. It’s as much a burden, as a superpower. And that’s what has made X-Men interesting. And I think that’s why audiences have loved it. And why it’s lasted. So you can call it darkness. But I really think it’s complexity.
Q: Which Wolverine comics are your personal favorites?
HJ: My favorite series is on the Japanese samurai saga. But I also love Weapon X, he’s just classic. I love it. Still would love to see that scene where his hair grows back and the technicians are like, look at his hair. My god; it’s growing back! That’s the one bit I still want to see.
Q: What is your favorite prop from the Wolverine set, and did you get to keep any?
HJ: Of course, I’ve got a set of claws. I’ve actually got a few of those stashed away!
Q: Will this be the last we see of these characters?
HJ: I can’t. answer that. No I can’t! Stay tuned…
The post Hugh Jackman Is Flying High On X-Men: Days Of Future Past also appeared on PCM Reviews.