LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “I know Aussies are not known for leaving the party at the right time but (after) 17 years, it’s time to leave the party,” Hugh Jackman quipped as he discussed his last time playing X-Men superhero Wolverine in this year’s gritty action hit “Logan.”
The Australian actor made his breakthrough as the gruff, clawed mutant Wolverine in 2000’s “X-Men” film and has since played the character eight times on screen. But with this year’s “Logan,” Jackman said he and the filmmakers took the biggest risk for his final performance as the mutant hero.
“This was not a given moneymaker,” Jackman said in an interview.
“People considered this to be the biggest risk, the most foolish risk ever taken, and I think people assume you’re just doing a sequel because it’s a moneymaker, but my experience from being within it is that it’s always felt like a risk and I think that’s to be embraced.”
“Logan” was the first time Jackman, 49, played his character in an R-rated film, where he was allowed to embrace the darker, more tormented side of Wolverine.
