How does Hugh Jackman really feel about movie musicals? Star calls the genre "Mount Everest" as he praises 'Wicked'

Hugh Jackman thinks Musicals are the “hardest things to pull off.” The multiple award-winning actor, who has starred in an impressive list of musicals, including Les Misérables, Oklahoma!, and The Music Man, amongst others, sat down with Wicked superstar Cynthia Erivo on Variety’s Actors on Actors to discuss their work in Broadway musicals, the theater, and film.
 

Jackman, who recently starred in the Song Sung Blue biopic, expressed his wish that movie musicals would be seen throughout the world:

 "I want the world to have movie musicals, and thankfully, they’re back. Any expectation I had, you just sailed [past]. It’s the Mount Everest of movie-making, musicals. I really think it’s the hardest thing to pull off."

The 57-year-old admitted that he likened his performances to services:

"I take a minute before I go out, and I say a little phrase: “Allow this moment to be in service. Of consciousness. Of God. Of the absolute. Of whatever it is,” — beyond Hugh Jackman or the Oscars or what this is going to do for me. I need that."

“It took me a few years just to feel grounded,” Hugh Jackman recalls his early years as an actor

Jackman, whilst speaking with Cynthia Erivo in an interview hosted by Variety on December 10, 2025, recalled how he dealt with the fame that came with his first successful movie:

"It’s been a pretty massive four or five years. Is it settling in? I went through a bit of it with “X-Men.”

 Erivo implored him to shed more light on his experience, and he obliged:

"I was 29. Luckily, no one recognized me as Wolverine on the street. I remember two guys arguing — in front of me —  “That’s him!” “That’s not him.” I pulled out my license to settle the argument. It took me a few years to feel grounded."

Jackman also admitted that he had stopped being anxious over how people reacted to his projects and had learnt to let things be and just trust his instincts.

The Wicked actress asked Jackman about the future of his Wolverine character, to which he replied that he thought the Logan movie would be his last in the X-Men cinematic universe:

"It doesn’t feel like the end. It really felt like the end after “Logan.” Actually, I needed to claim it as the end because I really believed in some things that I wanted that movie to be, and I had to fight for them. I had to say, “This is the last time I’m doing it.”

He added that he saw the script for Deadpool vs. Wolverine and changed his mind. 

“I’ve told everyone that I’m done. I’m not one of those guys.” Then I went, “You know what? I change my mind. It’s not that big of a deal. I’m not even gonna say I’m sorry.” And it was so awesome."

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