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Google PlayHugh Jackman will play Wolverine presumably one last time, starring alongside Ryan Reynolds in the third installment of the Deadpool franchise. Even though he went down this road five years ago with Logan, Jackman recently reflected on what has become a complicated tenure portraying the iconic character in the wake of disgraced X-Men director Bryan Singer.
When asked if Singer’s sexual assault allegations have impacted how he views previous X-Men films, Jackman told the Guardian, “You know, that’s a really, really complicated question.”
“There’s a lot of things at stake there,” the 54-year-old actor continued. “X-Men was the turning point, I believe, in terms of comic book movies and I think there’s a lot to be proud of. And there’s certainly questions to be asked and I think they should be asked. But I guess I don’t know how to elegantly answer that. I think it’s complex and ultimately I look back with pride at what we’ve achieved and what momentum that started.”
In addition to the sexual assault allegations against Singer, several actors have publicly complained about his on-set behavior. Rami Malek vaguely described his experience working on Bohemian Rhapsody—which ultimately ditched Singer—as “not pleasant,” while Olivia Munn revealed he disappeared for 10 days while making X-Men: Apocalypse. Even Jackman’s X-Men and X2 co-star Halle Berry confessed she and Singer had “a few fights” on set.
“This was my first movie in America, you gotta understand; it was all so new to me. I think it’s fair to say that…,” Jackman said of his own experience working with Singer, before taking a pause. “There are some stories, you know…I think there are some ways of being on set that would not happen now. And I think that things have changed for the better.”
According to the Hollywood Reporter, while filming X2, Singer chose to move forward with a stunt one day before it was scheduled to be filmed with a stunt coordinator present. It ended up going wrong and left Jackman bleeding on camera. The environment on set became so toxic that Singer nearly lost the entire cast.
“There’s way less tolerance for disrespectful, marginalizing, bullying, any oppressive behavior,” Jackman added. “There’s zero tolerance for it now and people will speak out, and I think that’s great.”
