Hugh Jackman Almost Wasn't Wolverine — And Now He Can't Stop Being Him

Wait — Wolverine Was Almost Played By Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible Villain?

Before Hugh Jackman ever put on the claws, Scottish actor Dougray Scott had already signed on as Wolverine and was contractually set to start filming X-Men the moment Mission: Impossible 2 wrapped. It just never wrapped in time — production delays plus a motorcycle injury during filming meant Scott couldn't get out of Tom Cruise's blockbuster, and Fox was forced to recast days before shooting began.

He Was Rejected For Being Too Tall — Then Had To Beg For The Part Back

Kevin Feige, then an assistant on the film, later revealed Jackman was initially passed over because comic-book Wolverine is short and stocky, while Jackman stood 6'3". Producer Lauren Shuler Donner pushed to fly him back out anyway, and it took a coached, Clint Eastwood-inspired audition in front of director Bryan Singer to finally lock down the role.

The Diet Got So Extreme He Was Basically Dehydrating Himself On Purpose

Jackman's Wolverine physique required eating up to 6,000 calories a day of bland, unprocessed food — think steamed chicken and broccoli every two hours — split across six or more meals. For shirtless scenes, he took it further with a brutal water-loading-then-cutoff technique, drinking around 10 liters a day before stopping completely for roughly 30 hours to strip visible water weight before cameras rolled.

Before He Was Slicing Through Villains, He Was Belting Show Tunes In Oklahoma!

Jackman's international breakthrough wasn't an action role at all — it was playing Curly McLain in the Royal National Theatre's West End revival of Oklahoma! in 1998, which earned him an Olivier Award nomination. He was still very much a musical theater guy, not an action star, when X-Men came calling just two years later.

He Said Goodbye To Wolverine In 2017 — Then Came Back Anyway

Jackman announced back in 2015 that Logan would be his final outing as the character, posting "Wolverine… One Last Time" on Instagram, and for years he held firm even as Ryan Reynolds publicly campaigned for a Deadpool crossover. Seven years later, he reversed course completely, suiting back up for Deadpool & Wolverine in 2024.

He Set A Guinness World Record — Then Immediately Made It Bigger

Jackman and Patrick Stewart were jointly awarded the Guinness World Record for longest career as a live-action Marvel character after Logan, having played their roles for 16 years and 228 days since X-Men. When Jackman returned for Deadpool & Wolverine, he stretched his own run to roughly 24 years — before Wesley Snipes' surprise Blade cameo in the same film quietly stole the record right back with an even longer 25-year gap.

Deadpool & Wolverine Finally Admitted The Height Complaints Were Right All Along

Fans had grumbled for two decades that the comics' Wolverine is 5'3" while Jackman towers at 6'2", so the movie leaned all the way in — introducing a CGI "comic-accurate" Short King Wolverine variant who barely clears a bar stool. Deadpool mocks him on sight before ditching him for the real deal, turning 24 years of casting criticism into one of the film's biggest laugh lines.