Hugh Jackman will "never forget" Kevin Feige's act of kindness after his disastrous first audition for Wolverine.
Hugh Jackman will 'never forget' Kevin Feige's kind gesture after disastrous Wolverine audition
The 55-year-old actor was certain he had blown the chance to land the role of the superhero in 2000’s 'X-Men' movie after a less-than-convincing try out, but Marvel boss Kevin Feige - who was a producer's assistant at the time - took him out for a steak meal before dropping him off at the airport afterwards.
He told Entertainment Weekly: "I said, 'Kevin, we all know I'm not getting the part. You don't have to do dinner.'
"But no, he sat in there and had a steak dinner with me and then drove me to the airport.
"I'll never forget it."
Reflecting on the gesture, Jackman said Feige did the "nicest thing", and he thought it would be the last occasion he would ever see him.
He added: "That was the nicest thing. I thought, I'll never see him again."
Jackman landed the part and it went on to be a breakthrough role for the star, who has now portrayed Wolverine/ Logan in nine movies, including his cameos in 'X-Men: First Class' and 'X-Men: Apocalypse'.
He will portray Wolverine for a 10th time in this month's release 'Deadpool and Wolverine', in which he appears alongside Ryan Reynolds.
In May, the star told how he found it "hard" to bulk up to portray the superhero again.
Speaking to Reynolds in conversation for People magazine, he said: "The hardest bit … [was] the food. I have to eat a lot. For me, for my body type, I’m naturally skinny.
"To get the size on, that’s the hardest bit. That’s the bit that does my head in.”
His friend agreed, saying: “Yeah, the five, six meals a day, which sounds great to some people. I’m sure they’re like, ‘Well, that sounds great.’ But it’s not like the type of food that you would really necessarily enjoy.”
Tagged in Hugh Jackman Ryan Reynolds Kevin Feige