Originally posted November 26, 2008 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Hugh Jackman took his designation as "Sexiest Man Alive" awarded by People magazine last week in good humor.
"I think I was a little let down in the swimsuit portion of the competition," he joked by phone Saturday from Los Angeles.
His wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, asked him, 'Why didn't Brad [Pitt] get it?'"
And from his son Oscar, 8, who exclaimed, "You gotta be kidding me!"
"To him," Jackman noted, "this was a travesty of justice!"
Jackman, 40, thinks his son will certainly prefer watching him in Baz Luhrmann's sprawling drama "Australia" set mostly in the Outback.
He plays a moody cattle wrangler in 1939 who falls in love with Nicole Kidman's fussy upper-crust character after she takes over an Australian ranch when her husband is murdered.
Still, at least one scene will feed into the whole "sexiest man" persona: Early in the film, the camera luxuriates over Jackman as he pours water on his topless, oiled torso, soap bubbles glistening while Kidman's character gawks.
"That took a long time to shoot," he said. "They literally pasted those soap suds on me. I asked Baz, 'Isn't this pretty full on?' He said the viewers would get the humor." During a break, as a joke, "half the crew had their shirts off, oiled up, walking up to me saying 'How are you mate?' "
The eight-month shoot was grueling, Jackman said, with nasty storms and hot days that led him and others to faint.
"It was nuts. It was not easy or glamorous," he said. "But I loved being there so much. My son was living in the caravan. We had a campfire every night. I probably slept better than I ever have in my life."
Jackman also had nothing but praise for fellow Australian Luhrmann ("Strictly Ballroom," "Moulin Rouge") for keeping the pressure off him and the other actors. "I'm sure he was getting heat from all over the place," given the scope of the estimated $120 million film, Jackman said. "I got to play so many genres. Comedy to tragedy to action. I could work for five years and not do what I got to do in eight months."
Jackman also has no qualms about taking over for Russell Crowe, who Luhrmann originally considered for the lead role. "It's rare you're genuinely first in line for a part --- unless you're Will Smith," he said.
"I've had a career of coming off the bench. I wasn't first for Wolverine!"
Indeed, until now, his biggest success has been playing Wolverine in the popular "X-Men" series. He's in post-production on a film focused on Wolverine, set for release next spring. (He's a producer, too.)
"I just saw the first cut of the movie," he said. "I'm a very harsh critic with first cuts, but it exceeded my expectations. It plays really strongly. Simply put, it has to be bad ass. That's the character of Wolverine. He's unrelenting and unforgiving.
"As a prequel, we learn where he came from. It's about a man battling between his human and animalistic sides. I think fans will love it."
But the biggest reaction during a teaser at the summer ComicCon convention wasn't to Wolverine but a minor character Gambit, played by Taylor Kitsch, the swoon-worthy Tim Riggins on the NBC show "Friday Night Lights."
"He raised the roof," he said. "I was a tad jealous!"
And while Jackman's track record in the box office has been fairly solid, his first attempt at American TV executive producing (and guest starring) in CBS' "Viva Laughlin" was a miserable failure. The drama, in which characters would break out in song, was canceled after just two episodes last year.
"It was jarring for people," he said. "We didn't hit the right notes. But as I say, it's better to fail spectacularly than just be mediocre. We went and failed spectacularly!"
GOING TO AUSTRALIA?
We asked Jackman for an itinerary for Americans who have only two weeks to visit his country:
Explore the east: "If you had just a couple of weeks, I'd stick to the East Coast. The West Coast, Perth, is beautiful but you'd need more time. It's the same as going from L.A. to New York."
Start in Sydney: "If you land in Sydney, I'd say spend three or four days. It's an amazing city, my hometown. Then head north, by car: "I'd go to the Barrier Reef. It's one of the seven natural wonders of the world. I'd go diving, even if you'd have to learn. It's astonishing. I'd even drive up that way. It'd take two days, but it's an amazing drive. You'd discover some of the best beaches in the world and nobody's on them!
From the set: Then I'd go to Darwin [where "Australia" was primarily shot]. I went there for the first time for the movie, and it's fascinating. It's literally the closest point to Asia. It's a cross-pollination of culture. There's a huge Aboriginal element."
Try the Outback: “Then I’d definitely go into the Outback. I’d get on a horse, go on some sort of trail for three or four days and sleep under the stars. I’d also spend some time in Melbourne, but you may not have the time. That’s a whole another slice of Australia, a whole different flavor.”
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