Multi-topic interviews

[jo]

And someone put up the Hugh-Andy show

With better audio --

www.pedestrian.tv/film-tv/hugh-jackman-andy-lee-the-late-show/

[jo]

Excellent interview!

The focus is on THE FRONT RUNNER, but it also covers the direction in his career as he moves forward from LOGAN, THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, and THE FRONT RUNNER --

deadline.com/2018/11/hugh-jackman-the-front-runner-jason-reitman-sony-interview-1202503447/

Deadline
Awardsline



Through ‘The Front Runner,’ Hugh Jackman Gets To Know Elusive Politician Gary Hart
by Joe Utichi

November 19, 2018 11:25am


Since hanging up his claws as Wolverine in spectacular fashion with Logan, Hugh Jackman has been exploring. He returned to his first love, musical theatre, last year for the blockbusting The Greatest Showman, and now tackles perhaps the meatiest role of his career to date as 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart. Jason Reitman’s The Front Runner follows the three weeks it took Hart’s leading campaign for the Democratic ticket to implode when reports surfaced of an extramarital affair. It was a changing point for American politics, Jackman says, but getting to know the elusive politician proved challenging.




How did you get this script?

Well, it came to me via Jason Reitman. It was the old-fashioned script to the agent, agent sends it on. Of course my inner monologue is, “Please like this. Please like this. Please like this.” Because I just love Jason’s films. I love everything about him. I love the complex characters he places at the center of all of these movies. He loves to live in the grey. As an actor, of course, that’s just a red rag to a bull.




What did you know about Gary Hart?

I knew nothing. I was probably in the UK in 1987 on a year off, so I don’t remember much about the entire year let alone this three-week political campaign unraveling. It’s really interesting, because when I’d tell the people I was doing the movie, almost to a person they were like, “Oh yeah, Monkey Business, right?” So clearly people do know stuff, and remember it, but not hugely. I think that’s what ended up being really powerful about the story itself. The connective tissue is so strong with what’s going on today. I think it’s a previously forgotten part of politics.



Watching the movie, it feels like the halcyon days of politics, if this was the biggest scandal going.

100%. That’s particularly true when you see the relationship between Gary and the press at the beginning, or even politician to politician. Like them joking, “Have you had a good week? How was your weekend, Gary?” It was a different time in a lot of ways, and this was very much a turning point. Certainly, it was a turning point between the press and politicians, but also I think that real introduction of the politics of personality and how much we judge a leader on their private life as much as their public ideas.



Where do you begin in preparing? Gary Hart is still around. You know he will probably see the movie, and it’s a dark chapter of his life up on screen. Does that add pressure?

The darkest chapter, I would say. And no matter how redemptive the movie is, it’s still going to be very uncomfortable and difficult.

Certainly for me the stakes were as high as they’ve ever been because it’s someone’s real life. I do believe our stories—yours, mine, everybody’s—the stories we tell the world, the stories we would like to be remembered for at the end of it all, are probably the most precious thing to us. So when you’re in charge of playing someone and really at the center of telling that story it is very, very important.

I was very heartened with how Jason Reitman approached it. He has personally taken the movie to all the key players. He spoke with them all beforehand. Shown them the movie personally. Donna Rice was the first person to see the movie. He has handled it with such class.


For me, I wanted to meet Gary and spend time with him. But the first thing I did was a mountain of research. First of all on politics and the American political system. Whoa, did I learn a lot! But also, just about the man; his history, his life, what he stood for. He’s a very enigmatic character. He’s very hard to get to know so my approach—actually before meeting Gary—was to speak quite intimately with all the people around him.

The point of view of the film is very much an outsider’s. You don’t often get inside the head of Gary himself. It’s not dissimilar to how people speak of Gary, in that you inch closer to Gary and you feel you’re just about to get to know him but you never fully get there. It’s what made it possibly the biggest challenge I’ve taken on because It’s very different from who I am as a person. I’m much more an open book. The catharsis you’d normally get in the movies of getting some definitive answer is not there in the script so we really had to embrace that unknown, the mysterious side of it. So after doing all that research, finally I felt I really wanted to know what it’s like to be around him.



What did you make of meeting him?

He was as charismatic, as intelligent, as enigmatic, as difficult to define as everyone told me. Sometime in the ‘70s, Gary was a campaign manager for George McGovern. I don’t know if there’s ever in history been someone who has occupied that role, which is logistics of the highest order, and then became a leader himself. When I went to stay with Gary, he had a long list of questions for me, like, “What do you like to drink? What do you have to eat?” It was unbelievable. I saw the campaign manager there. He picked me up when I was there. He was at the curb at the airport. The trunk door was open, ready for my bag. He was organized and on it and we had schedules. And he makes a mean martini too, by the way.
I was, yes, nervous to meet him, and very nervous the day he saw the movie. In fact, when I saw the movie for the first time, the whole time my head and my heart were thinking, “How is this going to be for Gary?” He’s an 82 year-old man, he’s just celebrated his 60th wedding anniversary, he’s very close with his family, he’s very protective of his family. And here we are portraying intimate scenes of him and his wife, which we’re totally taking a guess at. And I thought, “Oh, this must be really difficult to watch.” It was nerve-wracking.



How did he react?

First of all, he’s a complete gentleman in every sense of the word. He was very complimentary to me. He was particularly complimentary to Vera [Farmiga]. As I told you, he was very nervous about how the family would be portrayed and he often describes Lee as the strongest woman he’s ever met. Which she is. He really loved Vera’s performance and how the writers and Jason handled that. It was very clear from Jason from the beginning that there would be a focus on the female characters but that Lee would not be portrayed as a victim in any way. But to be honest, if he’d hated it he probably wouldn’t have told me [laughs].

Well he is a politician.
It was a good sign that he took my call!



You mentioned your surprise when you dug into American politics. What surprised you?

From an outsider’s point of view, particularly looking at American politics growing up, there’s just so much money. It is so slick. There are so many people. There are advisers upon advisers; 17-deep advisers. When you really start to look into it, you watch Frontline, which looked at his 1984 campaign, and it was literally him knocking on doors and a lot of people not knowing who the hell he was. Handing out leaflets in a snowy car park. To watch someone from the beginning hustle and do that sort of groundwork, and the amount of just winging it that happens, there’s big glossy ads and so much money, but things are changing and happening so fast on a campaign and you just have a whole lot of humans in there doing their best and making mistakes. Just the pressure… The time pressure, the lack of sleep, and the lack of money that people are living off. It’s really an amazing thing that it comes off at all. It’s kind of miraculous.
And the belief. When I talked with them, and watched those people who followed Gary, who really did spend years with him for no money, it was because they really believed. It was that kind of firm belief that he was going to make a better America and a better world and future, and the sacrifices they would make for that.



After going through this process, where do you fall on the politics of politics? You played a man who was overflowing with good ideas to make a better world, and he was undone. Was that right? Was it fair?

It makes me terribly sad. I think, regardless of your politics—and by the way he was a pallbearer at John McCain’s funeral just because that was the kind of person he was—he was a maverick. He was very creative. He had incredible ideas. And he had foresight. I can list from employment, to the military, to foreign policy, to education, he foresaw what was going to happen in so many areas. Even if he wasn’t president, to lose his voice to public life has been, for the world’s sake, a great loss.

On the way back to the airport after I went to meet him, we were driving back, and we were friends at that point. He turns to me and he goes, “Do you want to know my 100-day plan?” I said, “What?” He goes, “Had I been elected, do you want to know the 100-day plan?” Of course I said, “Yes!” And he told me. It took most of the trip to the airport. As everything unfolded, and he rolled it all out, I could see how different history would have been. That this would not have been just another president. This would have been a gamechanger.

Whether you agree with his politics or not, he had bold ideas. He was not interested in power for power’s sake. He’s a true civic-duty-first, principled kind of proud American who really had great ideas on how to steer America through the troubled waters it was going to face, from the Middle East, to the end of the Cold War, to the change in manufacturing, to education. Every idea was just so bold and brilliant and I just felt deeply sad; deeply, deeply sad.




Considering the landscape today, and comparing against what you read about Gary, did you come to the conclusion that Democrats have a harder time of scandal than Republicans do? Or have standards changed across the board?

I don’t know. I’m not sure of the answer to that. I think I’d say everything has changed. What’s fascinating that comes out in the movie is, in the polls the public were saying the press had gone too far. And this is post-Watergate where, thank God, the press pried, and broke a very important story. Even post-Watergate they said press had gone too far. That this was none of our business. But the train had left the station, and there’s no doubt that that train has been hurdling ahead. It’s almost unrecognizable now.

But funny enough, I talked to Gary about this and he said he’s starting to feel optimistic that things have become so unrecognizable in many areas, and so divisive, that he thinks there’s a real opportunity for a return to first principles and a real chance to actually reframe everything. Change how we look at things. He originally said that there would have to be some kind of crisis, because he believed that out of that would come something really positive. I’m not sure what form that will take.

And I think that’s the reason I wanted to do the movie. My son just registered to vote. He’s 18. So he’s starting out, and I want him to know some of the history about politics, here and around the world. Because I wake up every morning and I go, “How the hell did we get here?” This is still unrecognizable to me. And this movie, actually, is a previously unexamined part of history. It was largely sidelined into a scandal basket, but actually it was a massive turning point in many things. And part of Gary’s desire to not talk about it was trying to preserve the sanctity of the process that he could see was being eroded.



You’ve had a fantastic few years. You got to rest your claws on Wolverine in the way you wanted to with Logan, and since then it feels like you’ve been exploring in your career. Has that been a conscious choice?

You’re 100% right. People often give the advice—and I give it to my kids all the time—to follow your gut. “Take a risk, and you’ll never feel bad if you believe in something and it doesn’t work out. If you give it your all.” And the best examples in my own life have probably been in the last two years. Certainly with Logan, it was a movie that I’d wanted to make for a long time. I’d often felt that there was a version of that character that really focused on the humanity more than the superhero abilities. I’d been that character for such a long time, and when you take that risk and you say, “This is it. This is the last one. This is my last runner in the paddock. Unless we do it this way I’m out.” When it pays off you know it’s all the sweeter.

And I’m not alone here. Many, many people have to have the courage to make something like The Greatest Showman. I’m sure there were many people second-guessing it on the opening weekend. It does feel all the sweeter when it works out. I’m really trying to walk the talk in terms of using whatever profile I have to do things I believe in, that I think are important stories to tell and that I feel a compulsion to play something from within. These films aren’t just yeses; they’re hell yeses. I do feel like things are probably way better than any script that I could have written for my life.



Where do you go from here?

More of the same. I’m really following more of the same. I still always feel—and it’s probably why I work so hard on every project—that there is a deeper place to go. Different things to do. I must admit to you I’m very keenly feeling the pull back to stage to do a show, like a Broadway show kind of musical. I’m really feeling that pull. It’s been 15 years since I’ve done that. I’ve done plays but I haven’t done a musical on stage for 15 years. So I feel like that’s been too long.

I’m really just sort of loving the material that’s coming my way right now. Not great for someone who’s indecisive, because I find myself wanting to do them all, but I really am enjoying it.




What about bringing The Greatest Showman to the stage? Any progress?

There’s a bunch of talk. I’m not going to lie to you, I’ve heard four different possibilities. I’m involved but not in charge, if that makes sense. So I think that the people who are in charge are kind of just working through the four options. I’ve heard at least four options, from a big arena spectacular, to a more traditional West End or Broadway show, to something in Vegas, to something in a circus tent. I’ve heard lots of different things.

What I do know is, from doing the workshops which you can see online, it really works in the room. With no spectacle, with no costumes, those songs really work. When Keala Settle sings “This is Me”, I’m telling you, there’s not a dry eye in the house. Jim Gianopulos leapt from his chair, ran across the room—mid-performance—and hugged her and said, “You just booked your first motion picture.” It really works. So I feel very confident that a live version will come together.

[jo]

I must admit to you I’m very keenly feeling the pull back to stage to do a show, like a Broadway show kind of musical. I’m really feeling that pull. It’s been 15 years since I’ve done that. I’ve done plays but I haven’t done a musical on stage for 15 years. So I feel like that’s been too long.

I’m really just sort of loving the material that’s coming my way right now. Not great for someone who’s indecisive, because I find myself wanting to do them all, but I really am enjoying it.

Hurry, Hugh!

We can't wait to see you back in musical theatre once again!

I wonder what new musical material is coming his way?

Could it be THE GREATEST SHOWMAN...or something else?



Jo

[jo]

Hugh chats with his ( arguably) favorite media person, Josh Horowitz!

[jo]

Wonderful interview -- Hugh is so chatty with fellow actors (SAG/AFTRA)

The moderator from VARIETY was wondering why the room was so full - LOL!

Mostly about his life as an actor (sharing so many episodes and funny moments)...with maybe no more than 15-20 minutes spent on THE FRONT RUNNER.

It's an hour and 18 minutes long -- but you would wish it was longer!

[jo]

Future acting priorities --

*Shakespeare ( going back to his roots in classical theatre) - so will be time to brush up on Shakespeare

*Maybe a movie musical every few years

*Broadway - hopefully soon ( he says he's ready to go back)-- in a book musical. Please make it happen at the end of this season

[jo]

Nov 22, 2018 4:52:34 GMT -5 jo said:

Hugh chats with his ( arguably) favorite media person, Josh Horowitz!

[jo]

Nov 22, 2018 4:52:34 GMT -5 jo said:

Hugh chats with his ( arguably) favorite media person, Josh Horowitz!

Comicbook.com summarizes some key points from the interview, as they refer to American tradition ( Thanksgiving fare), American culture, and American attitudes.

comicbook.com/movies/2018/11/22/hugh-jackman-australian-american-pumpkin-pie-wolverine/

Hugh Jackman Could Not Wrap His Head Around Sweet Pumpkin Pie
By Patrick Cavanaugh - November 22, 2018


Since his breakout role as Wolverine in 2000's X-Men, Hugh Jackman has become one of the most beloved actors of his generation. Jackman hails from Australia and, after nearly two decades of being a superstar, still has a hard time coping with American confectionaries.

When asked by MTV News what about aspects of American culture he still can't wrap his mind around, Jackman confessed, "Sweet pumpkin pie. Marshmallow on pumpkin pie. It's actually great, but I resisted it. I was like, 'Whoa. I only know pumpkin...'"

Another thing that surprised him was American portions, noting, "The amounts you get when you go to a restaurant, the food. Also the amount of disposable utensils. I'm one guy, I don't know what I'm gonna do with these 13 knives."
Jackman isn't the only Australian actor to become immensely famous with American audiences, with performers like Chris Hemsworth, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie building passionate fan bases over the years. In addition to our desserts, Jackman is also surprised how welcoming America and its moviegoers are of people from other countries.

"I've really embraced the life, and I'll tell you what I've embraced more than anything, is the spirit, the generosity and the positivity," Jackman recalled. "I know, for sure, that if...I'm gonna say there's 30 Australian actors doing really well in America, at least 30. I doubt Australia would allow three American actors to come in with Australian accents and take the plum jobs. But not only is it allowed, you get a, 'You're great man, I love what you're doing,' and it constantly amazes me. I think it must come from a confidence. 'It's okay, we're an immigrant sort of...we're young, too. We're three or 400 years old. Everyone comes from somewhere, and that's okay.' New York, as you know, the heartbeat of New York is people who come from another place, whether it's another state or, you know."

The actor, who currently stars in the political drama The Frontrunner, detailed that it might be a history of kinship between America and Australia that has impacted how he has been accepted.

"You probably know this, you're American, there's that famous saying that when America sneezes, Australia catches a cold. We're linked, but linked not just as allies," Jackman detailed. "I don't know if you know this but Australia has been to every war since the second World War, we're the only country to go everywhere America has gone, everywhere we've been asked, there are American bases on Australian soil, and we are linked. I grew up on American television."

Fans can see Jackman in The Frontrunner, in theaters now. The actor may have retired from playing Wolverine, though he teased that we'll likely see the character again in the near future, yet he's moved on from the role completely.

Having also lived in America for a few years, I can appreciate some of his comments. Also, the American in-laws of a niece invited us over for Thanksgiving Day once -- and after the main meal, they cleared the long table. Why, so they could bring in all the pies and other desserts to fill that table. Yummy!!!!

My favorite pies from my stay in America were butter-pecan pie and apple-pie. I still crave them to this day - yummy!


Jo

[njr]

I think he was mixing up sweet potato pie/casserole with marshmallows and pumpkin pie with whipped cream! 😂

Nancy

[jo]

This must have happened sometime in late November/early December but Deadline is just putting it up on its site --


deadline.com/video/hugh-jackman-career-interview-greatest-showman-wolverine-the-front-runner/

Awardsline
Golden Globes Parties List: Where & When This Week
Hugh Jackman On How Hosting The Oscars Led To ‘Greatest Showman’, Trading Wolverine For Gary Hart & More – The Actor’s Side

Hugh Jackman | The Actor's Side
by Pete Hammond

January 2, 2019 1:56pm

In a wide-ranging interview for my Deadline video series The Actor’s Side, Hugh Jackman visits our studios and talks of encounters with Kirk Douglas (he just received the Santa Barbara Film Festival award named for the legend), hosting the Oscars and why he may do it again, and the impetus for his role as P.T. Barnum in last year’s The Greatest Showman and how that musical smash defied all box office prognosticators by rising out of the ashes of a low opening weekend. He also touches on why he decided to stop playing Wolverine, and how he stumbled into acting growing up in Australia with special thanks to his late grandmother’s will.


We also discuss how his current film, The Front Runner, provided a big challenge playing a living person, Gary Hart, and having the responsibility to get it right.

Jackman says that although others look at him as a triple threat, he sees himself purely as an actor and always has despite getting to show off his musical talents early on in a school production of Beauty and the Beast and never stopping, all the way to an Oscar nomination for Les Miserables. He is still showing off those talents and will take off this year for a major concert tour to augment his screen work, which includes another film he tells me he is proud of, tentatively called Bad Education and set for release later in 2019 (likely with a new title). As for Greatest Showman, there is talk about taking that into live arenas as well.

Finally, he says he chalks up his success to fate, and the fates indeed have been very kind to Jackman, who I think gives one of his finest performances in The Front Runner.

Check out our conversation in the video above. To watch past episodes of the interview series, click here.
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy

[jo]

In case you missed this from the FRONT RUNNER thread --

Jan 22, 2019 4:13:15 GMT -5 jo said:

Featured on The Hollywood Reporter's AWARDs CHATTER podcast, with Scott Feinberg --


www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/awards-chatter-podcast-hugh-jackman-front-runner-1169754

Movies

Awards Chatter

January 21, 2019 7:06pm PT by Scott Feinberg
'Awards Chatter' Podcast — Hugh Jackman ('The Front Runner')

Sami Drasin
Hugh Jackman

The multi-talented star — an Australian man of Hollywood films and Broadway theater who is the living embodiment of "the triple threat" — reflects on his dark childhood, playing the same superhero in more films and over more years than anyone else and now portraying a real and still-living person for the first time.

"My life has gone places, Scott, that I never, ever thought possible," says Hugh Jackman, the hugely popular Australian actor-singer-dancer, as we sit down at his publicists' New York office to record an episode of The Hollywood Reporter's 'Awards Chatter' podcast. "There are so many things that are way beyond coincidence. I feel there has been some guiding hand. I don't have the same belief in God that I had when I was 14 or 15, but I do still have this feeling of a path. There is some kind of path, and if you listen to the right signals, you end up in the right place."

Jackman's path has been unlike any other. He shot to international fame as the mutant superhero Wolverine in the 2000 comic book film adaptation X-Men, returning to the character eight more times over the next 17 years, with all nine installments opening atop the box office. (No actor has played the same superhero character in more films or over as long a time span.) He has been hugely prolific outside of that franchise, as well — in Hollywood films (including seven other box-office toppers, 2001’s Swordfish, 2004’s Van Helsing, 2006’s Happy Feet and The Prestige, 2011’s Real Steel, 2013’s Prisoners and 2015’s Chappie, and one best picture Oscar nominee, 2012’s Les Miserables) and Broadway theater both musical and dramatic.

Jackman also hosted the Tonys (in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2014) and the Oscars (in 2009). He has won a Golden Globe, a Tony, a special Tony and an Emmy for his hosting of the Tonys, and garnered Oscar and Grammy nominations. He was the main voice on a soundtrack, 2017’s The Greatest Showman, that topped the album charts in the U.S. for two weeks and was an even bigger hit in the U.K., where it was the year’s best-selling album of any sort and the album with the longest run atop the charts in a half-century. Jackman recently announced a world tour, as part of which he will be singing songs with which he is closely associated in stadiums and arenas all over the globe. And he is coming off some of the best notices of his career for his portrayal of the former presidential candidate Gary Hart in Jason Reitman's The Front Runner.
In other words, a serious case could be made that Jackman is his generation's, well, greatest showman.
* * *


LISTEN: You can hear the entire interview below [starting at 25:09],

* * *

Jackman was born in Sydney to a PriceWaterhouse accountant and a homemaker. His mother left the family when he was just 8, which, he acknowledges, was "traumatic for everybody" and "shaped a lot of who I am." He had a "religious upbringing," attending revival meetings and the like — and even contemplating becoming a minister when he grew up — but "went off the rails a little bit" and instead wound up performing. His initial desire was to pursue dance, but at age 11 his brother called him a "sissy" for doing so (the brother apologized seven years later, at which point Jackman resumed dancing), so he focused on acting. "I always did it as a hobby," he says. "It took me a long time to actually have the courage to say, 'I want to do it for a living.'"

Indeed, when Jackman went off to university, he majored in journalism, imagining a future in radio. It was only during his senior year that he shifted to drama, quite by accident, and then got hooked at a subsequent one-year acting course. "I had the bug badly," he says, noting that he then did three years of drama school — after agonizing over whether to instead accept a high-profile paying gig on the soap opera Neighbors. Instead, he landed his first major gig in October 1994, shortly after he graduated from drama school, when, at 26, he was cast as a mentally challenged prisoner on the show Corelli, beating out a lot of bigger names — and co-starring opposite his future wife, Debora-Lee Furness. From that, Jackman went on to star in three theatrical musicals in three years, most notably Oklahoma! at the National Theatre in London, which brought him to the attention of the agent Patrick Whitesell (then at CAA, now a co-chief of WME), with whom he signed and who began promoting him for Hollywood opportunities.

At the turn of the century, the comic book superhero movie phenomenon had not yet begun, but it was still exciting for Jackman when Whitesell informed him that there was some interest in him for the role of Wolverine in the first X-Men movie since Dougray Scott, who was originally cast, had a scheduling conflict with another movie. "My dream was to be either in the National Theatre or the Royal Shakespeare Company," Jackman reflects, "and I'm at the National Theatre. I'm 28. And the show's a hit show. That was pretty much the summation of my dream, so everything else was a bonus." After his initial meeting for the part, Jackman heard nothing, but when, months later, he and his wife went to Los Angeles to start the process of adopting their son, Whitesell, having learned that Scott had fallen through once again, got Jackman in for a reading, and this time he landed it.

Jackman was 31 when the first Wolverine film came out and proved a blockbuster. "It just kept exceeding expectations," he remembers, "and everything changed. I can count on one hand the amount of times I've auditioned from then. Offers just started coming in." Among his next parts were Kate & Leopold for James Mangold ("Working with Jim was a huge turning-point for me") and Swordfish, both released in 2001. He turned down the part eventually played by Richard Gere in Chicago (2002), a decision he now second-guesses, but he did insist on returning to musical theater in another way, even at a time when many advised him it could stunt the momentum of his film career.



In 2003, Jackman made his Broadway debut in The Boy From Oz, based on the life of singer-songwriter Peter Allen, and it quickly became the hottest ticket on Broadway. He gave 364 performances, was nominated for a Tony and then hosted the Tonys on the night he won. Now Broadway royalty, he has since returned to the Great White Way in two plays and a special concert. The New York Times called him "the most adored performer on Broadway" and wrote: "Mr. Jackman is a glorious dinosaur among live entertainers of the 21st century: an honest-to-gosh old-fashioned matinee idol who connects to his audiences without a hint of contempt for them or for himself." As for the widespread rumors that he is gay, which his singing and dancing have probably fueled, he says with a chuckle, "I really don't care about it. I think sometimes people like to gossip, and maybe they think, 'Everything seems to be too good in his life.'"

The Boy From Oz turned out to be a shot of adrenaline for Jackman's film career. "All of a sudden it started to open up," he says, noting that it led to his casting in Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain, Woody Allen's Scoop and Christopher Nolan's The Prestige, all of which came out in 2006; and, a few years later, to Steven Spielberg urging the Academy to ask him to host the Oscars, which he did in 2009. "I think it just shook people up so much," he says of The Boy From Oz. "I mean, to be fair to the business, nothing outside of Wolverine had really hit for me, right? So I can understand why those making the commercial decisions go, 'Well, unless it's like a Wolverine kind of role, I don't know if he's your guy.'"


The ensuing decade was filled with many more Wolverine movies, and Jackman is honest enough to admit, "There was a period there where we were doing big commercial movies that were not great." He elaborates: "I was unhappy with where we got to on The Wolverine. I realize I've very rarely said that because I don't want to be disparaging to all those people who gave up a year of their life to work on it, but I knew there was a more human character study about this, and that's what I always wanted to get to." While Jackman and his collaborators worked to get there, he continued to appear in other films, some of which were regarded as failures, such as Baz Luhrmann's Australia (2008), and others of which were triumphs, especially Tom Hooper's Les Miserables (2012), in which his live-singing performance as Jean Valjean, a role he had always dreamed of playing, landed him a best actor Oscar nom.

Jackman closed out his Wolverine chapter on a high with 2017's Logan, the best-reviewed film of the franchise "by far," he emphasizes. By that point, the actor had grown to genuinely love the character. "I didn't grow up reading a comic book ever," he says. "I didn't come from that world. My love for Wolverine didn't come from the comic books. The more I got to know him, I was like, 'This is a brilliant character. This is like Greek tragedy. This is Shakespearean. This is getting down to the essence of the push and pull within each of us between the controlled and the chaos. And there is something there that should speak to people who have never read a comic book in their life.'" As for walking away from the part, Jackman says, "I just knew that it was time to move on. And by the way, this a great part — that's someone not one but five other people should play and will play over the years. It's like Bond. It's a great part."


Hearteningly, his first post-Wolverine year — during which he turned 50 — proved to be one of the best of his career. Jackman and director Michael Gracey struggled for years to make the P.T. Barnum-biopic The Greatest Showman, an original musical, and ultimately did so for $84 million, a steep amount that seemed irrecoverable after the film's slow start at the box office. But, defying all Hollywood rules, receipts actually grew from week to week, largely thanks to strong word-of-mouth and a soundtrack that was growing into a chart-topper of its own, and it wound up grossing an astounding $435 million worldwide. And then came The Front Runner, the first film in which he was ever asked to play a real, living person. Prior to reading the script, Jackman "knew nothing" about Hart, but studied all about him and then spent time with him, embracing "the challenge of playing someone who's very different from me." The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in August; played the Toronto, London and Chicago film festivals thereafter; and was released by Sony on Nov. 6. While it struggled commercially, it resulted in some of the best notices of his career, and confirms that Jackman's range truly knows no bounds.

The Front Runner



Scott Feinberg
[e-mail]
ScottFeinberg

Please check out the podcast link on the article main link itself.


Jo

It is an hour long, more or less, but it is very much worth the listen!


Jo

[jo]

A fairly recent interview --

www.dailysabah.com/cinema/2019/02/27/hugh-jackman-im-not-having-a-midlife-crisis-that-i-know-of

Excerpts --

"Logan" (2017) was his last X-men film. We met the stage and screen actor Hugh Jackman in Los Angeles.


DAILY SABAH: You have always been very nice in interviews and you are known as one of the nicest men in Hollywood. Over the years, how have you learned to deal with the press?

HUGH JACKMAN: Actors and politicians are under the microscope. It's a completely different lens from where I stand. I'm sure there are some actors who find it suffocating and unbearable. I don't. I get nervous for my family. I'm fully aware I was 30 when I did "X-Men," so any kind of real profile didn't happen until I was 30. By 30, you know who you are, what you stand for, what's important to you. I went in with my eyes wide open. My kids were born into it. They have no choice. I protect them and I try my hardest to protect it for them. Fame is a weird thing. I never wanted. I never sought it. I didn't ask for it, but if someone was to say to you, "Here's a Lamborghini. I'm going to give you the keys to a Lamborghini but occasionally in your life there's going to be traffic. You still want the keys?" you're going to say "Yes!" and that's kind of how fame is for me.



DS.: It is the same with social media. Stars are now under the microscope for everything. You are a celebrity, and you have been married for such a long time. How can you lead a normal life without always feeling like you're under a microscope or being held accountable for what everybody else may do?

HJ: Don't read all the comments on your Instagram. That's the key for me. Don't read them all. I'm too thin-skinned. I'm being facetious. It's to some degree for me and for some other actors, and it's different for every actor. There's a choice involved. You know Frances McDormand really well. Last year, she won an Oscar, and she does hardly anything. Am I right? I've only heard that anecdotally. She will do very little, and she's very honest with filmmakers. "Listen, I'd love to be in your film or your play, I don't do a lot of press. I try and preserve my private life." If you're a politician you cannot, I believe, take that approach. You cannot say I'm closing off 97 percent of my life, but I'm still going to run for office. I just don't think that works. I've always loved the Socrates quote. I tell it to my kids all the time because they're on social media, and I'm sure they think that what they're doing is private. Then I say, "Look, remember what Socrates said, 'Never say privately what you wouldn't say publicly.'" Now all of us do say things privately we wouldn't say publicly. If you can sleep well at night with how you live, the choices you make, the things you say, then on another level, the thoughts you think, then you don't have to worry too much. So that's my sort of approach to it.


DS: Could you tell a little bit about your long association with Mont Blanc and also how the watches affect your personality?

HJ: I have been with Mont Blanc for about four or five years. I've loved it. The watches are very beautiful. I love the craftsmanship. I love their commitment to really bringing back the art of watchmaking. They're not the only ones but they do it very, very well. Everything you wear is a choice ultimately, and it's whatever that means to you.




DS: Let me follow up with "time." What does time mean to you? Do you see it differently now than before and how do you plan your free time?
HJ: Time is precious. I have turned 50, so a lot of people are talking to me about time. Don't worry, I'm not having a midlife crisis that I know of. Of course it's precious and I watch my kids grow up very, very quickly. My son just turned 18, which he reminds me of every time I ask him to do something, "I'm an adult now. I do what I want" (laughter). Life is a beautiful, magical thing and the only thing we can really control is our attitude to it. Different events happen to all of us, and time is no different. I see time like money. I see as energy. I see you can choose to spend it any way you like. That's my attitude toward time.



DS: I am following up on this. How many watches do you have? Do you have a prized possession like something that you want to pass down to your kids?

HJ: Honestly, it's probably about nine watches I would say. I am not a very materialistic person to be honest. I have a journal that was one of the greatest gifts my wife ever got me. When both of my children were born, she gave me a journal with their name on it so I've been writing in that for both of them, and I'll give it to them when they're 21. Throughout the years, I've written to them as though they were 21 years of age. I was flying somewhere recently, and my bag didn't come out and it eventually did come out but I waited a long time. I was like "whatever, fine" and all of a sudden it dawned onto me that the two journals were in there, and I went into a cold sweat. So that's probably a good example. If those got lost, I'd be very upset.


DS: What luxury is for you? What's the most luxurious thing you do and what do you do to unwind?

HJ: Freedom to me is the greatest luxury.



DS: Freedom from what?

HJ: Everything. Freedom to do what you would like to do. Freedom to some in this world is being free to drink water out of a tap. There's freedom of all different types, but freedom in general I would say is the greatest luxury. Materialistically, a pair of handmade shoes is pretty luxurious, and I've had two pairs in my life and putting those on is fantastic.



DS: You are very good at finding a life/work balance. How did you struggle over the years to get that to a point because you can't have it all? You must have to turn down things for your family. How does that work for you?

HJ: When we got married, we made a pact we would look at each other at every turning point; we would ask ourselves is this good or bad for our family. It seems to be a simple question. The family is the four of us. So it may be great for my career but terrible for the family or actually it may be a bit of a sacrifice for the family but really good for me. It is important for the kids to see their parents doing the thing they love. It's not necessarily an easy answer, but I would never have found the balance that I found if it wasn't for my wife because I can tell you at least seven or eight times in the last 25 years where my eyes have lit up with "Oh, this opportunity, that opportunity" and I just look over at my wife and she would just give me a look like, "No, this is not the time." She's just unbelievable with that. She's been in the business. She understands it. She understands opportunity when it's time for everyone. There's a time no one knows about when I was offered "Oklahoma" in London, and she was offered a spot at the very prestigious directing school of Victorian College of the Arts, and that's impossible to get into. There's two or three taken a year, very prestigious, and I said: "Well, we'll stay and she said no. Now, you need to go. We need to go to London, and you need to do 'Oklahoma.'" I never forget her selflessness in saying that because I know she always wanted to direct and that was a big moment for her. But when she looks at me like, "No, now is not the time," she is just the best barometer of that.



DS: You are a very sought-after actor in Hollywood. In the last two years, we saw you in superhero movies, one musical, a big one, a political thriller and a biopic. Do you want to try something else in the future, like a comedy maybe?

HJ: Yes, a horror movie, yes. More stage, yes. There's so much I want to do. I've always loved the variety in this business. I think it's a really exciting time to be an actor. There's unbelievable the amount of stuff being green lit. It's an incredible time. There are many new female directors coming into the business. I'm really excited. I'm enjoying acting more than ever so, yes, there's loads of stuff I'd like to do, but I'd better look at my wife first to see if I do that (laughter).

[jo]

Short BBC interview with kids posing questions?

www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/47686770

[jo]

Great and very informative interview covering  --

*Bad Education
*Reminiscence - in detail
*The Music Man - more detailed than in TV interviews

*Working with directors
*Wish list director to work with
*Life in quarantine

Collider has written very interesting interviews with Hugh over the years.


collider.com/hugh-jackman-interview-bad-education-the-music-man-reminiscence/


Will break this up into separate topics for easier reading --

Hugh Jackman on HBO’s ‘Bad Teacher’, Quarantine Breadmaking Tips, and Quentin Tarantino
by Christina Radish April 24, 2020

Directed by Cory Finley and inspired by a wild real-life story, the darkly comic HBO Films original production Bad Education tells the unbelievable tale of the largest embezzlement scheme in American public school history. When charismatic superintendent Frank Tassone (superbly brought to life by Hugh Jackman), part passionate educator and part expert manipulator, is discovered to have stolen millions from the Roslyn school district in New York in 2004, his secret life is brought to light, exposing a level of greed, corruption and lack of accountability that would be hard to believe, if it weren’t all true.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, Aussie actor Hugh Jackman talked about what a delicious role this was to play, the biggest challenges in embodying this character, the many layers of Frank Tassone, the joy of working with this cast (including Allison Janney, Ray Romano and Geraldine Viswanathan), his approach for playing real-life people, and why he believes doing your homework and putting in the work is important. He also talked about why he wanted to be a part of the sci-fi romantic thriller Reminiscence from writer/director Lisa Joy (Westworld), the genre he’d love to do, whether he’s thought about directing, what he thinks it will take to get folks back in theaters, and rehearsing at home for The Music Man.


Collider: This is a wild story, and you’re just so damn good in this movie.

JACKMAN: Aw, thank you so much. I appreciate that.


How much fun was this role to play? It seems like one of those characters that’s just so delicious to play, as an actor.

JACKMAN: So delicious because it hits so many layers and facets. He’s a really smart, slick guy, who is under the biggest pressure of his life. With that feeling of everything is slipping away, he’s desperately trying to be calm on the surface. As an actor, it just had so much to play with, and so many things that I’ve never really had the opportunity to play with. He’s seemingly very charming, but also just a viper. When he’s up against the wall, he’ll go for the jugular. Those things, I just found really exciting to play. And of course, with a great cast, it was just a joy.

It’s a story with a flashy headline because it’s the largest embezzlement scandal in American public school history, and yet when I watched this, I hadn’t known anything about it, but at the same time, I couldn’t stop watching it, to see where it was all going.
 
JACKMAN: I’m so glad. I’m from Australia, so I had no idea about it, either. I also didn’t really understand how the school system works, which seems really amazing to me, from an outsider’s point of view, with the whole passing budgets every year, and all of that stuff. It was fascinating to me. When I was reading it, I was like, “I’m not sure what the tone is here. At times, it’s like a Coen brothers film. At times, it’s like a thriller. It’s this true life crime story of waste. Where is this going?” And then, when I watched Cory Finley’s movie Thoroughbreds, I was like, “Oh, yeah, he can handle more than one or one genre, at a time.” What’s astonishing to me is that, at the center of this story, is a 15-year-old girl who, in truth, is an amalgamation of two people, in real life, but it was all true that the school newspaper broke the story. That just made it even more astonishing.

I love that this is presented as a dark comedy. As we learn about the story, it just gets more and more insane, so it seems like there would be no other way to tell the story. How do you think the tone of the film and the telling of this story really works to its advantage, in that way?


JACKMAN: Well, Cory just has a wonderful way, as he worked on the script and also in the making the film, to keep you entertained. In the same way that the true-life story just slipped into being the greatest theft of all time, and all of these really nice people who had dedicated their life just gradually slipped, you start this story feeling that this is quite fun and entertaining and interesting. And then, it starts to slide, and the comedy starts to get blacker and blacker, and they go deeper and deeper and deeper. In a way, the tone of the movie allows you to slip into the enormity of the story along with it, rather than it being a too heavy a tone, up top.


Because there are so many layers to a character like this, that’s the fun of playing a character like this, but it also seems like the tremendous challenge of playing a character like this. What were the biggest challenges, for you?

JACKMAN: I think the biggest challenges were being able to watch him in real time, manipulate events in his favor. When everything seemingly is crashing, he used his charm and smarts to win. I think that, as well as regulating between his genuine desire to help people, but when push comes to shove, he will destroy anyone who gets in his way, and why that happens and how that happens was the biggest challenge. Of course, there were many, many fun layers. The things he’s hiding, as the film goes on, get bigger and bigger, and as an actor, you want nothing more than for something to be going on, on the surface, and something completely different underneath. That kind of conflict is really what you look for, as an actor, and Frank head it in spades.


Do you feel like he just thought he would charm his way out, no matter what? Do you think that he really thought he would just keep getting away with this?

JACKMAN: Yes, I think he thought he was gonna get away with it. What’s even more interesting to me is that, as the years went by, he justified that he was still doing the right thing because he was getting 70 pats on the back. He was, by this point, the highest paid superintendent in the country, I believe. He wrote an editorial for the newspaper, every second week. He was getting the rotary’s Man of the Year. I think he felt like he deserved it, and rationalized that everything he was taking was a pittance of what he would get, if he went into the private sector. So, what starts with a Greek salad and a soda at lunch with a couple of other teachers, gradually, over time, became okay somehow. That’s what fascinates me. How people can pretend that things are okay because it suits them. It’s that slipperiness of truth before, all of a sudden, you’re in jail for six years because you’ve taken $10 million.


He seems like a guy that you could just endlessly study because there’s just so much there.

JACKMAN: I agree with you. It’s a cautionary tale. The amount of people who have that power and position, and then go on to steal, is very few. But all of us human beings have a tendency that we have to guard against, of just looking out for ourselves or our family. The college bribery scandal happened while we were filming. Surely, people must feel it’s okay because they love their kid and they’re doing it for their kid. And then, later, they go, “What was I thinking?!” People generally think they’re good, that they’re doing the right thing, and they’re doing their best. Life has a funny way of standing up and slapping you around.


Along with being a role that is great fun for you to play, it also seems like it must have been great fun to work with these actors.

JACKMAN: Oh, it was just such a joy. There was so many. Obviously, there was Allison Janney and Ray Romano. There were so many great actors that everyone knows, but that cast, right down to every character in that cast, are people I’ve known from the Broadway world and theater world. They’re great New York actors, and Cory is a playwright. He’s young. He’s 31, and Thoroughbreds was actually a play that he wrote, that got picked up to film. He knew all of these actors for years, and you could just tell how much fun he was having, working with them all. The whole thing was very easy. It’s nice, after having half of my life and most of my career on big films, which I’m really happy to have, just be in a really small, nimble drama, with great scripts and great actors. It felt easy. I think we shot the film in 10 or 11 weeks, all on location. It was great.



How he was perceived and judged by people seems to be something that was so important to Frank Tassone, and your performance is so measured because of that. How did you gauge that? Was that something that just became instinctual, as you played him?


JACKMAN: I always felt that he had to feel really calm and collected, like a great superintendent and leader. He was like, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this.” He had to feel that he had everything handled. So, I want to always have that calm exterior, even more so when things go down, because he needed to project to the board and to the school that he’s got everything covered. There were always seven things going on at once, inside of his head. He had a 30-year relationship with a man that nobody knew about, and behind his back he had a relationship with a young man who used to go to the school that he taught at in Vegas, and he was buying a house. There were just so many things happening, at once. I always filled, particularly in the first half the movie, that you had to like him and feel that he was a really great educator because that was the truth, and no one saw this coming. Everybody liked him. It’s interesting, I’ve read a lot of interviews where, after, people would say, “There was always something a bit off about him. I couldn’t work out what it was. He suits were too good, and he had plastic surgery.” But I’m telling you, not one person, prior to the events, said anything. There’s nothing on the record, where anyone said anything other than great things about him. So, I always thought it was really important that people feel comfortable around him, that kids really like him, and that he encourages them, so that there was that charm, as well as, underneath, that feeling that he’s working 18 different angles.



From P.T. Barnum to Gary Hart to Frank Tassone, you’ve played some really interesting real-life men, in the last few years. Is there a different feeling or approach for you, at all, when you play real-life people? Do you research them differently?

JACKMAN: Yeah, I do a lot more research, for sure. I do quite a lot of research. For me, I just like to know the world that I’m operating in. It anchors me, as an actor, to feel that I’m doing something that could really be happening. But when you play someone real, particularly Frank, who’s alive and a tutor. He’s online right now. You can hire him for 50 bucks an hour. He’s up in the Bronx. Well, at the time of filming, he was. I’m not sure about right now. But he’s alive, and all of those people who were at the Roslyn school are still around. I hired a researcher, and we did loads and loads of research. We looked at lots of archival video types and interviews. Thankfully, there’s a huge amount on public record. But I do feel, not just for the characters, but for the audience, this is a true story and, for a lot of people, it’s all the more amazing that it’s a true story. And it’s not just the amount of money that was taken and how they did it and how things went wrong, but how the school board thought it was a good idea to not report $250,000 of stolen public money. All of those things were incredible to me, but even more incredible, to be honest, was that it was all uncovered by the school newspaper. I hope every kid in school watches this and goes, “Oh, yeah, I’m 15.” Twenty six people ended up being charged with this thing, all because of, in reality, two people, but in our story, just one.

I was fortunate enough to be in New York when you were in The Boy From Oz and I got to see you in that, and you were fantastic, which you can tell really comes from the amount of homework and preparation that you do. The way that you could improvise on the fly with the crowd, at any given time, is something that you can only do, if you really know your character.

JACKMAN: I couldn’t agree more. Up and coming actors ask me, all the time, if there’s a secret to it, and I say, “Just do the work. You’ve gotta do the work.” The people who make it look the easiest have just worked harder. You don’t wanna show the work up on the stage or on the screen, but for me, it’s part of the privilege of working. I didn’t get my first job until I was 26 or 27, so I understand what a privilege it is to have a part, so I always feel that desire to work. For me, personally, to quieten any doubt in my mind, I never want my brain to be going, “You’re winging this. You really should have done more work.” That, to me, is a killer. I’m not always gonna be great and I’m not always gonna give the best performance, but I can’t go to sleep at night, if I know that’s because I really just didn’t do the work.

What’s the status of Reminiscence?

JACKMAN: We finished filming, and they’re editing now. I don’t know exactly what they’re doing, but I guess (writer/director) Lisa [Joy] is probably editing at home. We finished filming, at the end of January. I’m really excited for that film. I loved doing it. I think Lisa is an incredible talent. I said yes to the movie, in my head. I didn’t say this to her because, you’ve gotta be cool, but she pitched me the movie. She said, “I’m gonna pitch it before you’ve read the script because I want you to understand the world of the film.” As she’s pitching, I’m like, “I’m doing this movie.” And then, I was reading the script, and 20 minutes into the script, I was like, “Honestly, I don’t even need to read this. I’m doing it.” It was that good and that exciting and that original, and I think audiences are really craving that. I’ve been part of a movie franchise, where I played the same character nine times. It’s important that I do some original content.



It sounds like a really cool sci-fi thriller, and to know that it’s original, what most impressed you about what Lisa Joy was able to create on set and about working with her?


JACKMAN: She’s like a savant, in the way that she prepares. She knows every cut and every angle. When she walks on the set, she has this preparation that you’ve never seen before, and a knowledge of how things are gonna go down, and because of that, which goes back to what you were saying about preparation, she has the ability to take on active suggestions. It feels like you’re really creating and flowing, but you have this foundation where you know you’re gonna make your day and you know you’re gonna create some things that have never been done before. And we were doing things in camera that have never been done before, but she had prepped it all. It was super exciting to be part of that. She’s just got an incredible brain. She never loses her temper. She always is laughing and having a good time. This was a really big film, and I was just proud to be part of it.


Does it also feel like a very different kind of character for you?

JACKMAN: Yeah, it does, and a different genre character than anything I’ve done. This puts me more in the Bogart world. It’s very much a film noir romance. Coming off of doing Frank, Gary Hart and The Greatest Showman, it’s been a really interesting time for me, and I’m really loving having the variety of characters that I’ve been offered and am lucky enough to do, but this does feel very different. And I got to work with Rebecca Ferguson again, who I think is ridiculously talented and amazing, and I love her. I had never met Thandie Newton before, but I now am equally as impressed with her.

Is there another genre that you would want to do, that you’ve never been offered?

JACKMAN: Yeah, I wouldn’t mind doing a [Quentin] Tarantino film. Is that a genre?


It’s probably safe to say that Quentin Tarantino is his own genre.

JACKMAN: I’d like to do a Tarantino genre.

Have you thought about directing, at all?

JACKMAN: Not really, no. It comes to mind, occasionally. Obviously, I’ve learned a lot about film, over the years, and Lisa Joy was trying to tell me to do it. I think maybe just because I feel really busy, as I am, and I watch how much busier directors are, and I’m like, “I just don’t think I have the time for that.” They’re not that young anymore, but I have a nine, 10 and 14-year-old. There will come a time, in four or five years, where I might think differently, when they really don’t need me as much and they’ll be off living their life. Finding that balance, for me, has been really hard. For all actors who are lucky enough, like me, to be working, it’s a really difficult thing to know if you’re doing the right thing. So, I find acting hard enough, as it is. The idea of spending 18 months, seven days a week, 14 hours a day, I’m just like, “I don’t think I can do it.” I also like the freedom of playing. I don’t know if I always know what the best road to take is. The best collaborations I have are when I’m free to go left, right, stand upside down, and do it any which way, knowing that I trust the director to have the best taste to pick the right thing. I’m not sure that I have that. I’m quite an indecisive person. I’m not sure I’d be a great director.

With everything that we’re experiencing now, being stuck at home, what do you think it’ll take to get people back into theaters, both movie theaters and for stage productions?

JACKMAN: I think people need to feel safe to be around others, that’s for sure, whether it’s a vaccine or proper testing, or whatever that is. I think there’s a natural desire for humans to be together, to do whatever, but no one’s gonna do it. No one’s gonna stand by the campfire, if they know the campfire’s gonna get out of control and burn them. They have to feel it’s safe and communal and fun. And for an audience to sit there, particularly in the theater, which actually thrives on the intimacy and having people crowded in together, and that’s where it works best, people need to feel safe first.


Have you had conversations about what to do with The Music Man?

JACKMAN: For sure. Yeah, we’re talking about it, all the time. Obviously, safety and what is best for people’s health is number one. It’s a bit about my pay grade to really make the decisions of when. We are due to start rehearsals on June 29, so it’s a little up in the air ‘cause we’re not actually seeing an audience until September and opening in October. So, we don’t know what’s gonna happen. I wouldn’t be surprised if it just pushes back a little, but hopefully not too long.


I was curious about whether you’d try rehearsing over Zoom from home, or how that was going to work.

JACKMAN: Yeah. I’ve been FaceTiming with my musical director and singing with him quite a lot. I’ve also been FaceTiming with my choreographer. Just before we closed, we did a workshop, Sutton [Foster] and myself, and learned a lot of the dances. I have time and I have space here, luckily enough, to do some dancing, so I’ve been doing quite a bit of that.

I saw you on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon recently, and you were partaking in the bread-making that everyone seems to be doing while they’re stuck at home.

JACKMAN: I’ve been making bread for a while because I love it, and maybe it’s because I spent 17 years playing Wolverine, where carbs and bread were like holy water for Dracula. There’s just something about that smell of fresh, cooked bread. It was actually really great doing Jimmy Fallon because I’ve been sent six really great recipes for bread, which I’m gonna try it out.



I’d try making bread myself, but I wouldn’t even know where to begin and I feel like it would just be a disaster.

JACKMAN: Get a bread machine. That’s my tip. It’s the greatest thing, ever, because like with a coffee maker that you put on so you wake up to the smell of coffee, it’s not nearly as good as waking up to the smell of fresh bread that’s warm and sitting there ready. It just wafts through the house, and it’s the greatest way to wake up. Bread machines are the simplest thing in the world, and it’s really good. You put all of the ingredients in at night and you set the timer, and then it turns on at four o’clock in the morning and starts kneading and letting the bread rise. And then, at 7am, you’ve got a fresh loaf of bread. The kids love it.

Bad Education premieres on HBO on Saturday, April 25th.

[/quote]

[jo]

Radio interview with longtime neighbor ( they finally admit it) Michael Riedel and co-radio anchor Len Berman

Hugh says that if you live across his place ( they are glass towers over there), you could see him practicing his dance steps for The Music Man.

[jo]

Remember the interview with Prof Annette Insdorf to which many of us signed on?

Here's a transcript/summary --

www.womanaroundtown.com/sections/playing-around/reel-pieces-annette-insdorf-interviews-hugh-jackman/

eel Pieces: Annette Insdorf Interviews Hugh Jackman
Posted on May 9, 2020 by Alix Cohen in Playing Around


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Streamed Live under the aegis of 92nd Street Y

Close to 300 people from all over “gathered” online last night to watch author/educator Annette Insdorf interview Hugh Jackman from his home. Several had the opportunity to ask questions. The thoughtful, articulate actor, who evidently sat in on a number of the host’s classes before lockdown, was as casually charming as his Miami Vice stubble. He has an easy laugh and evident modesty. The guest addresses each attendee by his or her name when replying to questions.

Our host begins with Jackman’s role as Dr. Frank Tassone, the charismatic, Roslyn, Long Island School Superintendent who, with his assistant (played by Allison Janney), embezzled millions of dollars before being caught in the early 2000s. The film, Bad Education, is currently on HBO. Jackman is excellent and decidedly unglamorous. “Your performance was so juicy, I found myself sympathizing more with your character than the student who exposed him,” Insdorf begins. “It’s not a film about tar-and-feathering, but rather a cautionary tale… Frank lost his way,” Jackman responds.

“Were you sympathetic towards him?” Insdof follows up. “If you’re not sympathetic to your character, walk away. All of us have things we try to mask, roles we play. Shakespeare said, all the worlds a stage…Everything in Frank’s life became about presentation and success. It was important to understand how this could happen…I’m a public figure, so I have to watch it in myself as well. Am I authentic off camera – here and now…” The host points out that recent roles P.T. Barnum (The Greatest Showman), Gary Hart (The Front Runner), and Frank Tassone all had that real life issue.

“I had about seven hours of video to watch for mannerisms and appearance,” Jackman says referring to Bad Education. “I was never really gonna look like him…We never met. I’d just come off a movie playing Gary Hart, who’s become a friend. It’s a big decision to play someone who’s alive when the piece looks at a painful part of his life…Frank got four to twelve years and served four.”




Insdorf quotes a review that calls Jackman more movie star than character actor. “If I’m a movie star, I’m a reluctant one,” the subject muses. “Paul Newman was my acting hero. You couldn’t take your eyes off him on screen, but every role was a character part.” Referring to a scene in which Tassone dances poorly, the host asks how hard it was in light of Jackman’s skill.

“For me, physicality is important. There’s such emphasis on eyes and face in film, what’s physical often goes by the wayside. I always start by just walking around the room…” Jackman describes shedding aspects of himself as he moves, experimenting with facets of his character.

“What had the most lasting impact on you personally and professionally?” the host asks. “On stage, The Boy From Oz” (Jackman won the Best Actor Tony playing Peter Allen in the extravagant jukebox musical). “I was really reaching there. Les Miz (the film Les Miserables) is the other one. I was nervous playing such an iconic literary figure. Tackling someone like Jean Valjean makes you question priorities. Both touched why I got into acting, to understand human nature.”

“What are some of the films that inspired you to get into acting?” Insdorf inquires “You’ll laugh – Raiders of The Lost Ark. I was 11 or 12. I didn’t know that was possible! Then E.T. (the Extra-Terrestrial). It was the first time I saw my father cry and understood the power of film. As I got older, Kramer vs. Kramer, The Deer Hunter – dramatic performances. An attendee notes that both Kramer and The Deer Hunter are Meryl Streep films and asks what Jackman would do to work with her. “Anything!” he responds laughing, arms wide. “Anything!”




Attendee Question: If you were quarantined, what’s the Hugh Jackman film you’d like to have. “I generally look away…I’m gonna say, The Prestige (about competing 19th century magicians) which had so many things going on.”

Attendee question: What it was like being part of the X-Men films in the early 2000s? “There was no sense that the movies were going to be anything. People suggested I have another job lined up. In terms of the proliferation of superhero movies, I have to say, I’ve been really impressed with their quality. I’m surprised how long the genre has lasted and how popular it is.”

“The majority of questions coming in now are about The Music Man,” Insdorf notes. (Scheduled to land on Broadway in September with Jackman as Professor Harold Hill and Sutton Foster as Marian, the librarian.) “It’s gonna happen when it’s safe. I’m preparing. I take a singing lesson every day and work with my choreographer. Today I was doing hat tricks.” Jackman reaches for a straw hat. “There were 32 drafts of The Music Man. Producer Scott Rudin is looking at all of them.”



Attendee question: You obviously have a deep love of film making. Have you considered writing or directing? “I always feel like a punter on film sets. I came to it late, but do love it now… We don’t shoot in chronological order. I map out beforehand, so I know where I am emotionally. You need to know which scenes to lean in on and which to almost throw away. Filming takes only minutes at a time. That took awhile for me to get used to. I hope for a great director I trust who’ll let me fly… I have no desire to do it myself. It’s a really tough job.”

Attendee question: Do you have any advice for aspiring directors about how to work with actors? “Be honest, allow a free flow of ideas, look for an actor to be vulnerable.”

Attendee question: How are you holding up?” I have a 19 and a 14 year-old and I love being with them. This is a lot harder on them…I find it difficult to slow down. I’m always working at something…”



Insdorf asks her guest about his next project, Reminiscence. “It’s an amazing script, intelligent film noir with lots of twists set in a not too distant future where everyone lives under water. I have a machine that takes you back to literally relive a memory… I loved every second.”



Attendee question: How did your own tour compare to playing someone else? Is there a DVD? “I’m not a fan of DVD concerts. There’s a sacred contract in the theater that something might happen that never happened before…I did 90 appearances all around the world. It was an out of body experience.”

Insdorf closes: “Thank you for the intelligence, warmth, talent, and humanity you’ve been manifesting all these years.” Jackman thanks the host and those in attendance, promising to visit live when The Music Man opens.

Photos Courtesy of the 92Y.

[jo]

Basically about PAN...but then it meanders to other topics.

I am not sure if many of us have seen this ( me, included) --