It’s no secret that Hugh Jackman went through a bit of a transformation to play Wolverine.
He pushed himself and his body to put on loads of muscle — but he claims he never used steroids.
In HBO’s “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace,” the host asked: “Over the years, people have wondered, did he juice? Did he take steroids?”
Jackman got “jacked” for the nine movies in which he’s played Wolverine, which led to some fan speculation about his workout regimen, but steroids were never appealing to him.
“No, I love my job. And I love Wolverine,” the 54-year-old actor 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.”
Turns out, the “old-school way” involved quite a lot of poultry.
“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,” Jackman said. “If the deity has anything related to chickens, I’m in trouble.”
Jackman is currently starring in “The Music Man” on Broadway, which requires a much less rigorous training process than being a Marvel superhero.
Hugh Jackman went through a bit of transformation to play Wolverine. Fox
Hugh Jackman pushed himself and his body to put on loads of muscle — but said he never used steroids. Rocco Spaziani/Archivio Spaziani/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty ImagesWhen Wallace, 75, asked how he would make the transition from Broadway to “Deadpool 3,” alongside Ryan Reynolds, the “Greatest Showman” star shared he has a six-month plan to get on back into Wolverine shape.
“I’ve learned you can’t rush it. I’ve learned that it takes time. So, we have six months from when I finish [‘The Music Man’] to when I start filming,” Jackman explained. “And I’m not doing any other work. I’m going to be with my family and train. That’s going to be my job for six months. And I’m really fit right now. There’s one thing about eight shows a week being on Broadway, singing and dancing, is I’m fit. So, I’m healthy. I have a good place to start.”
Jackman also admitted that when he first accepted the role, he didn’t know wolverines were real and instead took to studying wolves.
“I had never read the comic book,” he explained. “In Australia, we don’t have wolverines. I didn’t know that was a real animal. I’d never heard of a wolverine. I thought it was a made-up animal.”
He watched a documentary about wolves — because, “obviously,” he thought he was a wolf.
“So I went [to set] with all these wolf moves and I was doing these moves, and the director said, ‘What are you doing?’ And I said, ‘Well, I was just thinking wolves are always looking like this because they’re actually smelling, they’ve got their nose to the ground. That’s why they’re looking like this all the time.’ And he goes, ‘What do you mean a wolf?’ And I said, ‘Well, you know, Wolverine — I’m part wolf so …’ and he goes, ‘No, you’re a wolverine.’”
