While the world knows Hugh Jackman as the legendary actor behind such iconic roles as Wolverine, there was a time before he became an X-Men when even he felt like he was a “nobody” and found himself in one particularly humiliating moment.
As reported by Variety, Jackman revealed a story about when he auditioned for the role of Sandra Bullock’s love interest in Miss Congeniality. Jackman didn’t want the role, but his agent encouraged him to try as it would help with his negotiations for Someone Like You with Ashley Judd were he to get it.
When you think of Jackman now, you may think he’d walk into an audition with all the confidence in the world and have no problem securing any role he’d like, but this wasn’t the case.
“No one knew X-Men yet,” Jackman said. “I was a nobody.”
He read with Bullock for the audition and was blown away by her talent. He was so impressed that he simply felt outmatched in every way.
“‘Holy shit! She’s amazing! And so quick and fast,” Jackman recalls. “I’m not even vaguely up to speed here.’ I was pedaling as fast as I could, but I didn’t know the script well enough. It was the first time I’d tested [with another actor]. I was impressed that she was in there. I didn’t expect her to be in there. I’m guessing eight people she tested with.”
Jackman’s feelings were not unfounded, as he lost the role to Benjamin Bratt. As if that wasn’t enough of a loss, he had the added embarrassment of losing a role that his agent thought was an easy win for him.
“That’s humiliating, when your agent says, ‘I don’t want you to get this job, but just go get it.’ And then you don’t get it,” Jackman said.
Jackman had already finished filming his debut as Wolverine in X-Men when he auditioned and, despite this one setback, he quickly found his footing, and the rest, as they say, is history.
If you want to learn a bit more about that history and his future, be sure to read up on the internet-breaking news that Jackman will be returning as Wolverine for the first time since 2017 to star in Deadpool 3 alongside Ryan Reynolds.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
