Hugh Jackman knows how to apply your acting skills if you want to meet the demands of the superhero genre.
During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallonthe acclaimed Australian actor spoke about the diet he has to follow in preparation for the new Deadpool and Wolverine film.
It all started when the presenter asked Jackman, now 55, how he got his body in such rock-solid condition for the role. He joked: ‘You eat like steamed bricks or something. What do you have?’
The longtime comedian replied, “Yes, sometimes I bake the bricks.”
And while it may not have been actual bricks he was taking in during the grueling months of specific eating and training, the actor admitted to eating a whopping 6,000 calories a day to get into proper superhero shape.
Hugh Jackman, 55, revealed he ate 6,000 calories a day while training and preparing for his role in Deadpool & Wolverine, but clarified it wasn’t food like pizza
“It’s 6,000 calories, and it’s not the calories that you necessarily want. Like, half a pizza is 6,000 calories. But no, this is chicken, and it’s tilapia and beans. Tilapia and beans. I don’t know why tilapia. It has to be a lean fish, and green beans,” Hugh revealed.
“It’s 6,000 calories, and it’s not the calories that you necessarily want. Like, half a pizza is 6,000 calories. But no, this is chicken, and it’s tilapia and beans. Tilapia and beans. I don’t know why tilapia. It has to be a lean fish, and green beans,” Hugh revealed.
And after the Hollywood strikes last year, Jackman had to follow that diet for much longer than expected, in order to maintain the same shape throughout production.
“There’s one particular scene where I really wanted to focus on how I looked. And Shawn [Levy] said, “Where do you want to do that scene?” And I said, “Let’s just get it over with.” And then the strike came and I thought, “Oh, why did I say that?”‘ he admitted.
Fans may recall that Jackman publicly announced that he was done playing the character before reprising his role for the final time in Logan (2017).
“I meant it. I really meant it,” he said of his vow to continue with the role. “I believed my lie, I really did. I just thought we had done everything,” he said of his reason for continuing with the character.
Then he went back to just before he was supposed to ride for Logan, shortly after he revealed that this would be his last ride.
“I was excited about the script and thought, ‘This is going to be perfect.’ Three days after that announcement, I saw Deadpool 1,” he told Fallon.
‘And I remember seeing it and thinking, ‘Oops. I could see it. I could see the two characters that fans have loved and longed for for years, but I could see Midnight Run, 48 Hours, Odd Couple, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Just those two characters that didn’t fit together, I could see it.’
Jackman revealed how, following the Hollywood strikes last year, he had to follow the diet for much longer than expected to maintain the same shape during production.
Jackman even remembers the day he thought he had the idea and had to call Ryan Reynolds to pitch it to him: ‘August 14, 2022’
Jackman even remembers the day he thought he had the idea and had to call Ryan Reynolds to pitch it to him: “August 14, 2022.”
He was sitting in the middle of New York traffic, with the kids in the backseat, when he said, “Wow, yeah, that’s a first,” as if to indicate that the idea was becoming clearer in his mind.
“I was like, ‘I want to do Deadpool & Wolverine. Sorry, it was Wolverine & Deadpool when I thought about it,'” he joked. “But I was just like, ‘I really want to do it.'”
The two friends and colleagues have a lot to smile about, as Deadpool & Wolverine has now grossed $1.029 billion at the worldwide box office against a budget of $200 million.
Nearly 10 years earlier, Jackman had to go through much of the same strict diet and exercise regimen to achieve a muscular physique
“And I stopped and called Ryan, and I said, ‘I don’t know where you are. I know you’re shooting. I think you’re getting ready to shoot, but please tell me we can make this movie.’
Ultimately, Reynolds, producer Kevin Feige, and everyone at Marvel and Disney agreed to the combination of the two characters.
Now, after returning to play Wolverine, with co-star and producer Ryan Reynolds and director Shawn Levy, “I had more fun playing him this time around than I ever have. I had a blast,” he confessed to Fallon.
Following its wide release on July 26, Deadpool & Wolverine has grossed $1.029 million worldwide at the box office, despite its $200 million budget.