In September, Ryan Reynolds got us all aflutter by announcing that he was bringing Wolverine back in the next Deadpool movie. We don’t know anything more than that. Hell, I don’t think Ryan knows anything more than that. Everyone just knows that the mere suggestion that Hugh Jackman extracting the claws once more is going to generate interest. Hugh’s out here talking about his Wolverine days to remind us how much we love him as the character. The first reminder is how gooood he looks as Wolverine. People who read the X-Men comics know that the 6’3” Hugh was completely wrong for the 5’2” Logan. But by jacking his body, we all forgave that anomaly and focused on his arms instead. The question of Hugh’s Wolverine physique has always been, however: how did he achieve it? Most assume he indulged in assistance for steroids to pump up that quickly. But Chris Wallace asked Hugh outright on Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace. And Hugh claimed nope, he doesn’t love his job enough to risk the side-effects of steroids.
Hugh Jackman is famous for packing on pounds of muscle to play Wolverine in various “X-Men” movies, but he told Chris Wallace during a recent interview on HBO’s “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace” that he’s never resorted to steroids in order to transform into the character.
“Over the years people have wondered, did he juice?” Wallace asked. “Did he take steroids?”
“No, I love my job. And I love Wolverine,” Jackman said. “I got to be careful what I say here, but I had been told anecdotally what the side effects are of that. And I was like, ‘I don’t love it that much.’ So no, I just did it the old school way. And I tell you, I’ve eaten more chickens — I’m so sorry to all the vegans and vegetarians and to the chickens of the world. Literally the karma is not good for me. If the deity has anything related to chickens, I’m in trouble.”
If Hugh’s comment don’t convince you, I certainly won’t. I agree steroids are a gamble because of their side effects and that’s reason enough not to take them. We know plenty of actors who have undergone extreme diets and regimens to bulk up for roles. Wolverine was Hugh’s cash cow, I don’t doubt he would bust his @ss to get in shape for that role. But who knows. I’m actually more thrilled he apologized to the chickens (or former chickens) than his steroid discussion. I always think of how many chickens are sacrificed for these superhero movies because all we hear about is how the men throw five chickens a day down their gullets to bulk up and the women eat only an unseasoned chicken breast and a piece of lettuce to look good in their catsuits. We should all yell “Liar!” when the “no animals were harmed in the making of this film” disclaimer comes on. #justiceforchickens
Later in his interview with Wallace, Hugh revisited a story he’s told before but it’s a funny one so I’m glad he brought it back. It was about his first X-Men audition and how he’d never heard of a wolverine before because they don’t have them in Australia. He studied wolves instead, thinking the character was part wolf. So during his audition, he’s trying to channel his wolf side and was met with a resounding, “WTH are you doing?!” Also interesting was that while telling the story, Hugh said, “the director” and did not mention Bryan Singer by name, as he has in the past.
The evolution of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine pic.twitter.com/TS1QOD8sa8
— Marvel Tesseract (@Mar_Tesseract) January 7, 2023
Photo credit: Maria Laura Antonelli/AGF Foto/Avalon, Twitter, Instagram
#justiceforchickens 😂😂😂😂
The channeling his inner wolf part made laugh out loud.
Now I have to Google wolverines. I thought they were native to Australia but I guess not.
I believe it.
If you look at his physical transformation it took years and years.
Unlike some others who’ve hopped on the superhero train who go from normal fit to wwe level jacked in a year.
Also, dear gods, please never let me find out bad things about Hugh. He’s such a breath of fresh air.
Will he and his wife are best friends with the Trumps .
Ya, no sorry. Anyone who lifts/powerlifts etc will tell you there is no way a man of his age, no matter how many chickens, will put on muscle like that. He def used HGH or something. It’s the reason why he’s being careful about what he’s saying.
Here to second the HGH comment. It’s pretty rampant in regular fitness circles and very easy to get. That vascularity is very difficult to obtain without help. IMO.
Ya it’s HGH. Testosterone. It’s a nice loophole to say “I don’t use steroids” hmm?
He may not have resorted to steroids but there was some kind of medical assistance in building that amount of muscle and definition in under a year. You don’t get like that through diet and exercise alone. Especially within a six month period. Especially in your 40s and 50s.
My guess is something like HGH. So he’s technically being truthful in saying “no steroids”.
I wonder if the decision to bulk up for role was really his or the studios? When they filmed the first X-Men film in 2000, Hugh had a shirtless scene and he was incredibly fit with more of a regular person who hits the gym often physique. And he looked great in the role and no one said anything regarding his appearance.
Then, the sequels are made and he looked like an action figure in them.
I don’t see a problem with actors using drugs to enhance their physiques for a role. They’re adults making the decision to put those chemicals into their bodies and accept the consequences. And they’re not competing in a sport so there’s no real “cheating” involved. PED usage in sports is wrong because it removes the aspect of fair play.
The one problem I do have with steroid usage in the film industry is that I feel it’s not communicated well enough that what’s seen on the screen isn’t realistic or even healthily achievable for a regular person. I wish actors AND studios would come right out and say “this was achieved with EXTREME diet, exercise and lifestyle changes AND DRUGS. The purpose of such was to present the IMAGE and UNREALISTIC depiction of a larger than life character that DOES NOT exist in reality. THIS IS ALL MAKE BELIEVE DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME.”
I say this because using the “living off of chicken and rice” sound bite trotted out so often is just dishonest and contributes to shame people feel over their healthy and otherwise normal bodies.
all great points Sean – agree he definitely looked old-school fit in the first movie (which I think is sexier) and then everything got very comic-book *cut* in the later ones
not a serious question here but if it wasn’t steroids/hormones/chickens alone.. could it have been CGI? Can you imagine if he’s talking carefully because he doesn’t want to blow the fantasy by acknowledging that they just shopped that definition on him like people used to tweak JLo’s butt in all her movies? hilarious
I think people forget that his first outing as Wolverine wasn’t the super shredded version we saw later. I don’t know, I think this is similar to “Have you had plastic surgery?” – Maybe nobody actually used a scalpel on you but you’ve done everything else under the sun. Or maybe it’s a lie. Although a boob job is definitely more acceptable in society than juicing. But in general, the human body an only gain so much muscle in a certain time frame. 20 lbs of pure muscle in a few months is just not it.
I think he’s defining “steroids” as old school injections like WWE wrestlers. He’s probably not doing that, but yeah, he’s doing something.
Wait, you mean here is an actor saying he prioritized his health over a role? What is this nonsense???? I thought great acting required therapy, a hospitalization or two, and ghosting your family / loved ones for at least six months.
Clearly Hugh didn’t get the memo. It also helps that he’s not pretentious and self-indulgent.
I love to see guys in beautifully made, tailored, nicely fitted and expensive suits. Good shoes. Nice tie.
Well, I used to frequent a gym full of 20 something guys. They would compare routines and food receipts. There was this guy who would eat at the gym…chicken breast with some vegetables. He was on a “5 times a day meals” type of diet and he had a good physique but not the ones you see on tv. Also I saw one guy transform in front of my eyes in a year. But also he was less than 20 years old. All this word salad to say- these guys in these big franchises get ALL the help they need to get there. They just call them with other names.
Nevertheless I love Huge.
For what it is worth, just like heterosexual men find more than one type of woman attractive, as a hetero woman who watches a lot of superhero and action-y stuff, I don’t need every guy on screen to have bulging muscles and no body hair. Seriously. I like fuzzy chests. I like lean builds. It’s allllllll good.
i’m not sure hetero women are the target demo of superhero movies… this kind of insanely jacked and cut physique seems more targeted at the male gaze / idea of what it means to be “manly”
if these movies were targeted at the female gaze, you’d have boomer buff dudes like harrison ford and tom cruise, 90s pretty boys like leo, pitt and depp, millennial hipster types like adam driver and joseph gordon levitt, and gen z fey boys like timothee chalamet
robert downey jr, benedict Cumberbatch, tom hiddleston, nicholas hoult, and tom holland fit these categories, but it’s worth noting none of them were stupid jacked to begin with