Hugh Jackman wanted to escape the ‘Wolverine and nice guy bubble’ says ‘Prisoners’ director
While discussing his latest film Prisoners, director Denis Villenueve addressed the interest of Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal on the project.
Hugh Jackson struggles to escape the stereotype of being Wolverine photo 20th Century Fox
Talking with Media Mikes Villenueve explained that the dark side of the film was appealing to get Jackman out of his “bubble.”
“First of all, it all starts with the actors. I think Hugh agreed to do the part because ….sometimes artists find that they are confined to a bubble. Everyone either thinks you’re a nice guy or the Wolverine! (laughs) He was confined to this bubble but I felt he was a very powerful actor. An actor that is often underused…that doesn’t get to reach his full potential. And I felt that he was ready to get out of that bubble. He really wanted to explore the really dark spectrum of his art. And he was willing to go there. I didn’t have to push him there. He was very committed. He read the screenplay and knew where he needed to go. He trusted me to take him there. Hugh was very easy to direct. I felt he needed a friend to work with him in that darkness and that’s how I felt.”
Jackman is set to return as Wolverine next summer in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Villenueve won an Oscar and BAFTA nomination for his film Incendies and discussed what drew him to Prisoners.
“It has a strong, dramatic structure that was really compelling and entertaining from a thriller point of view. It said so many sad, yet accurate, things about our society and I felt those topics…the violence…the torture…I was inspired by them. It told about things that I felt were meaningful. I hope that as a director I was able to bring about a film to be inspired by.”
Check out the full interview, including his comments on Incendies – here
Prisoners is currently in theaters, check out the full movie review here
