These are photos of Hugh Jackman over the weekend at the San Sebastian film festival where he received a lifetime achievement award. He was also on hand for the photocall and premiere of Prisoners. The movie has already done quite well stateside — it’s almost recouped its production budget after 10 days. The film is a hostage-centered crime drama, which sounds stressful to make as a movie. Hugh makes it quite clear that while the film wasn’t easy, he’s not about to jump back into mutant form just because that’s more fun. He claims he’s not up to doing Wolverine again at all. Except in the bedroom, perhaps? Here’s some excerpts from a couple of new Hugh interviews:

He’s a morning whippersnapper: “I’m a morning person. The beach reminds me of the beach in the Sydney. I woke up at 8:30 in the morning and I swam. Rode my bike. The moral is, if you want to be left alone in San Sebastian, wake up early.”

No more Wolverine for him: “Great parts always outgrow the actors that play them. If you forget that, it’s at your own peril. They are working on it [X-Men] now, and it would have to be very compelling for me to do it again. I’ve been doing it for 10 years.”

He might be talked into a cameo: “I have people ask me all the time, ‘Do you think Spider-Man can beat Wolverine?’ It’s part of the DNA. Marvel wanted me to do a cameo in the first Spider-Man, but I couldn’t find my suit. I could have turned up before it was such a big deal. But I don’t have that kind of power to make it happen.”

On being a sex symbol: “Here;s the thing. No one was looking at me when I was 16 thinking of me as the sexiest man alive. Why doesn’t it come when you need it, when you’re 20, 21? Not when you’ve been married for 15 years, and you wake up in the morning and say ‘Hey baby,’ and she says, ‘Take out the garbage.'”

On Prisoners: “The job is to pretend as convincingly as you can. A lot of people think that means you have to dive into yourself, but I feel it’s diving into the people around you, the other actors and the director. And when I come home, I feel like I’ve played a game of rugby and have a bath and I’m fine. It is cathartic.”

[From Hollywood Reporter and The Guardian]

You know what this tells me? Unlike Johnny Depp (who’s running back with his scarfy tail between his legs to the Jack Sparrow role), Hugh truly has lasting power. He refuses to stagnate as an actor. Good for him. I don’t think Hugh was throwing shade any other actor with his comments. He’s just ready to move on, you know? I’d be tired of wearing sideburns after a decade too. Hopefully, he’ll never do another Baz Luhrman movie again either. That sh-t was insufferable.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN