Posted in: Movies | Tagged: bond, entertainment, film, hugh jackman, james bond

Hugh Jackman Talks About Turning Down James Bond Role

Published Wed, 06 Dec 2017 08:15:49 -0600

Rumours about Hugh Jackman taking on James Bond have circulated for a long, long time. The actor's name has popped up whenever talk of needing a new Bond has arisen, his name being a bit of a spectre above casting. While he is Australian and some people seem to have a weird insistence that James Bond needs to be played by a British actor, Jackman could have absolutely made a credible Bond for my money.

Well, the actor has talked to Variety about his relationship with the role, and how his name came up around it. Back after Pierce Brosnan left the role and before Daniel Craig hopped in, Jackman's involvement was something the producers were certainly looking at. However, according to Jackman, it wasn't the right time or project so he decided to turn it down.

I was about to do 'X-Men 2' and a call came from my agent asking if I'd be interested in Bond. I just felt at the time that the scripts had become so unbelievable and crazy, and I felt like they needed to become grittier and real. And the response was: 'Oh, you don't get a say. You just have to sign on.' I was also worried that between Bond and 'X-Men,' I'd never have time to do different things.

Of course, the producers did end up landing on something 'grittier and real' with Casino Royale, so it does seem like an unfortunate missed opportunity. To Jackman's credit though, the last film at the time was Die Another Day. Yeah, the ice palace one. You can see where he is coming from with that one.

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