Post by jo on Jul 22, 2015 15:39:03 GMT -5
It seems that Hugh is now at a career crossroads, as he bids goodbye to Wolverine. The news continues to devastate longtime fans of Hugh Jackman as the heroic mutant.
PAN represents a turn from his usual heroic portrayals.
He has dropped out of an anticipated project just so recently announced (COLLATERAL BEAUTY).
New projects announced include a faith-based film project on APOSTLE PAUL.
His long-gestating passion project GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH is still to set a filming date ( now presumably after WOLVERINE 3).
I came across this article by Patrick Healy from The New York Times again, as he prepared for THE RIVER last year. It must have been lost here among the many articles previewing the show and his return to Broadway. But there are some thoughts here that seem to suggest that Hugh is indeed at a crossroads in his career. He seems to be introspective about his career and where he might want it to go.
www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/theater/hugh-jackman-tests-his-limits-in-the-river.html?_r=0
Excerpts
A Dive Into Darkness
Hugh Jackman Is Back on Broadway in ‘The River’
By PATRICK HEALYNOV. 5, 2014
Wolverine seems ageless, but Hugh Jackman is definitely aging.
Mr. Jackman, who turned 46 last month, gets tired more easily than he used to — or so he said after giving a fuzzy answer during a recent interview. He’s coming off his third treatment for skin cancer in the last year. He finds himself looking at role models like Paul Newman and Richard Burton and wanting more for his career, and soon. He is attached to the next installment in the hugely popular “X-Men” series yet sounds almost sheepish about it, saying he wouldn’t mind if his role as Logan/Wolverine were smaller. (At least the movie character is still around; Wolverine just died in the X-Men comics.)
“In a way, I still think of myself as young, and there’s plenty of time to go, but then you realize that you’re 45, 46, and the idea kicks in about taking big challenges in your life: If not now, when?” Mr. Jackman said as he leaned forward on a sofa in a Midtown hotel.
He is answering that question for himself with little steps (a predawn workout regimen near his home in the West Village) and big ones, like quitting a long-gestating musical project, “Houdini,” and opting for an eerie new drama called “The River,” now in preview performances, as his next Broadway show.
On the surface, “The River” seems like classic Jackman: His character is a rugged, romantic guy — appropriately called the Man — who whisks his new girlfriend away to a cabin to fish and frolic. But looks can be deceiving, for Mr. Jackman as well as the play.
His age is written on his face (after a long day of work, he appears as haggard as the rest of us), and he is less physically imposing when he’s not in Wolverine workout mode: His sparkling smile catches the eye, not a brawny chest or biceps. And the play turns out to have a mysterious, even sinister quality at times. It’s not an action-hero romp.
“The River” also offered Mr. Jackman a chance to stretch by working for the first time with a major dramatist, Jez Butterworth, whose talent for exploring the dark and destructive sides of men earned him a Tony Award nomination for the 2011 Broadway drama “Jerusalem.”
Mr. Butterworth has written a role that may unnerve some Jackman fans, given the secrets that spill forth from the Man, but it’s a character that Mr. Jackman called “the most exciting thing I’ve ever done.”
“It was something I’d never had a chance to do, a great piece of writing that has a mythical and timeless feel, and a character dangerously close to myself in some ways,” Mr. Jackman said as he sat beside Mr. Butterworth before an afternoon rehearsal. “Whatever I’m trying to achieve in my life: If not now, when? And I think the Man is asking the same thing after trying to connect with a woman many, many times. He’s asking: Is he capable of it?”...
So, was THE RIVER the first step, at the crossroads, towards a change in his career direction?
It is interesting to note that it was Patrick Whitesell who chose to send him THE RIVER, when Hugh asked for more material for potential projects. Patrick seems to have a silent but an important role in driving the direction of Hugh's career. It was Patrick who alerted him about Les Miserables, too. And Prisoners was packaged by WME if my recollection is right.
PAN is about to open - if it turns out to be a big hit, will Hugh continue to pursue occasional forays into action movies and movies where he plays extraordinary characters?
He is taking a long break, not in his adopted home, but in his homeland. Perhaps to refresh his mind and body. Even the return to the community where he said he felt so happy when he was young (and acting was probably furthest from his mind) is probably part of the renewal process for him.
Judging from the photos he himself has posted, Hugh is looking refreshed!
I am eager to see what the new steps will be!
Jo
PAN represents a turn from his usual heroic portrayals.
He has dropped out of an anticipated project just so recently announced (COLLATERAL BEAUTY).
New projects announced include a faith-based film project on APOSTLE PAUL.
His long-gestating passion project GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH is still to set a filming date ( now presumably after WOLVERINE 3).
I came across this article by Patrick Healy from The New York Times again, as he prepared for THE RIVER last year. It must have been lost here among the many articles previewing the show and his return to Broadway. But there are some thoughts here that seem to suggest that Hugh is indeed at a crossroads in his career. He seems to be introspective about his career and where he might want it to go.
www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/theater/hugh-jackman-tests-his-limits-in-the-river.html?_r=0
Excerpts
A Dive Into Darkness
Hugh Jackman Is Back on Broadway in ‘The River’
By PATRICK HEALYNOV. 5, 2014
Wolverine seems ageless, but Hugh Jackman is definitely aging.
Mr. Jackman, who turned 46 last month, gets tired more easily than he used to — or so he said after giving a fuzzy answer during a recent interview. He’s coming off his third treatment for skin cancer in the last year. He finds himself looking at role models like Paul Newman and Richard Burton and wanting more for his career, and soon. He is attached to the next installment in the hugely popular “X-Men” series yet sounds almost sheepish about it, saying he wouldn’t mind if his role as Logan/Wolverine were smaller. (At least the movie character is still around; Wolverine just died in the X-Men comics.)
“In a way, I still think of myself as young, and there’s plenty of time to go, but then you realize that you’re 45, 46, and the idea kicks in about taking big challenges in your life: If not now, when?” Mr. Jackman said as he leaned forward on a sofa in a Midtown hotel.
He is answering that question for himself with little steps (a predawn workout regimen near his home in the West Village) and big ones, like quitting a long-gestating musical project, “Houdini,” and opting for an eerie new drama called “The River,” now in preview performances, as his next Broadway show.
On the surface, “The River” seems like classic Jackman: His character is a rugged, romantic guy — appropriately called the Man — who whisks his new girlfriend away to a cabin to fish and frolic. But looks can be deceiving, for Mr. Jackman as well as the play.
His age is written on his face (after a long day of work, he appears as haggard as the rest of us), and he is less physically imposing when he’s not in Wolverine workout mode: His sparkling smile catches the eye, not a brawny chest or biceps. And the play turns out to have a mysterious, even sinister quality at times. It’s not an action-hero romp.
“The River” also offered Mr. Jackman a chance to stretch by working for the first time with a major dramatist, Jez Butterworth, whose talent for exploring the dark and destructive sides of men earned him a Tony Award nomination for the 2011 Broadway drama “Jerusalem.”
Mr. Butterworth has written a role that may unnerve some Jackman fans, given the secrets that spill forth from the Man, but it’s a character that Mr. Jackman called “the most exciting thing I’ve ever done.”
“It was something I’d never had a chance to do, a great piece of writing that has a mythical and timeless feel, and a character dangerously close to myself in some ways,” Mr. Jackman said as he sat beside Mr. Butterworth before an afternoon rehearsal. “Whatever I’m trying to achieve in my life: If not now, when? And I think the Man is asking the same thing after trying to connect with a woman many, many times. He’s asking: Is he capable of it?”...
“The River” drew critical acclaim during its world premiere in 2012 at the Royal Court Theater in London, where it was a hot ticket, in part because only 90 seats or so were available at each performance. Dominic West (“The Wire”) played the Man, a portrayal that Mr. Jackman didn’t see. He learned about “The River” when he asked his agent to send him new plays, and then read the script aloud with his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness. Mr. Jackman said he didn’t wholly absorb the work at first, echoing a comment by some British critics.
“If you go by my English comprehension results as a student, I was a 68 student, a 70, and Jez’s work requires you to be in your 90s,” Mr. Jackman said, one of several compliments that made Mr. Butterworth blush slightly. (“Aw, that’s very nice,” the writer would whisper each time.)
Performing in a work by a leading playwright had particular appeal as Mr. Jackman was coming to grips with the travails of “Houdini,” which had gone through multiple composers and scriptwriters. “When a new play works, and the word gets around town, there’s nothing quite like it,” he explained. “That’s gold dust. I love feeling like I’m in that first audience that went to the Globe to see ‘The Merchant of Venice.’ ”
“I also thought of Newman and Burton, how they kept going back to new plays to stay sharp,” he continued. “Burton even went into the original ‘Equus’ on Broadway as a replacement actor, which is really rare for a star to do.” (Asked if he would ever consider being a replacement, he said there was one role he would do: the closeted gay father who commits suicide in the musical “Fun Home,” which is opening on Broadway next spring. “It’s an astonishing part,” he said.)
Mr. Rickson and Mr. Butterworth were excited when they heard Mr. Jackman was considering “The River,” but also wanted to make sure that his high-energy reputation wouldn’t overwhelm its lower-key mood, especially since they hoped that the play would run in a smaller theater than Mr. Jackman usually occupies. (His last show on Broadway, a 10-week concert in 2011, sat 1,200 people, while his last Broadway play, “A Steady Rain” in 2009, sat 1,100.)
Mr. Butterworth, who has his own film career and has most recently worked on the script for the next James Bond movie, said that casting for his plays “hasn’t always gone right every time,” so he wanted to think carefully even as he was intrigued by the idea of Mr. Jackman in the play. As for Mr. Rickson, after watching several Jackman movies like the 2013 kidnapping thriller “Prisoners,” he said he was drawn “to Hugh’s very big maleness and also that he could be kind of poetic.”...
“If you go by my English comprehension results as a student, I was a 68 student, a 70, and Jez’s work requires you to be in your 90s,” Mr. Jackman said, one of several compliments that made Mr. Butterworth blush slightly. (“Aw, that’s very nice,” the writer would whisper each time.)
Performing in a work by a leading playwright had particular appeal as Mr. Jackman was coming to grips with the travails of “Houdini,” which had gone through multiple composers and scriptwriters. “When a new play works, and the word gets around town, there’s nothing quite like it,” he explained. “That’s gold dust. I love feeling like I’m in that first audience that went to the Globe to see ‘The Merchant of Venice.’ ”
“I also thought of Newman and Burton, how they kept going back to new plays to stay sharp,” he continued. “Burton even went into the original ‘Equus’ on Broadway as a replacement actor, which is really rare for a star to do.” (Asked if he would ever consider being a replacement, he said there was one role he would do: the closeted gay father who commits suicide in the musical “Fun Home,” which is opening on Broadway next spring. “It’s an astonishing part,” he said.)
Mr. Rickson and Mr. Butterworth were excited when they heard Mr. Jackman was considering “The River,” but also wanted to make sure that his high-energy reputation wouldn’t overwhelm its lower-key mood, especially since they hoped that the play would run in a smaller theater than Mr. Jackman usually occupies. (His last show on Broadway, a 10-week concert in 2011, sat 1,200 people, while his last Broadway play, “A Steady Rain” in 2009, sat 1,100.)
Mr. Butterworth, who has his own film career and has most recently worked on the script for the next James Bond movie, said that casting for his plays “hasn’t always gone right every time,” so he wanted to think carefully even as he was intrigued by the idea of Mr. Jackman in the play. As for Mr. Rickson, after watching several Jackman movies like the 2013 kidnapping thriller “Prisoners,” he said he was drawn “to Hugh’s very big maleness and also that he could be kind of poetic.”...
Mr. Jackman clearly feels a yen for ever darker roles. He said that he happily submitted to an hourslong audition for Jean Valjean in the film musical “Les Misérables,” and that if he could play any other “X-Men” character, it would be the arch-villain Magneto (Ian McKellen in the movies).
He’s also intrigued that “The River” is in the smallest theater that he’s played since drama school in Australia, the 650-seat Circle in the Square. The production, which is doing strong business at the box office so far, is selling so-called “riverbank” seats that encircle the narrow in-the-round stage, so some audience members will be only a few yards away from Mr. Jackman.
“Being so close really requires you to be incredibly honest, because the audience can tell if you’re ‘acting,’ ” Mr. Jackman said...
He’s also intrigued that “The River” is in the smallest theater that he’s played since drama school in Australia, the 650-seat Circle in the Square. The production, which is doing strong business at the box office so far, is selling so-called “riverbank” seats that encircle the narrow in-the-round stage, so some audience members will be only a few yards away from Mr. Jackman.
“Being so close really requires you to be incredibly honest, because the audience can tell if you’re ‘acting,’ ” Mr. Jackman said...
So, was THE RIVER the first step, at the crossroads, towards a change in his career direction?
It is interesting to note that it was Patrick Whitesell who chose to send him THE RIVER, when Hugh asked for more material for potential projects. Patrick seems to have a silent but an important role in driving the direction of Hugh's career. It was Patrick who alerted him about Les Miserables, too. And Prisoners was packaged by WME if my recollection is right.
PAN is about to open - if it turns out to be a big hit, will Hugh continue to pursue occasional forays into action movies and movies where he plays extraordinary characters?
He is taking a long break, not in his adopted home, but in his homeland. Perhaps to refresh his mind and body. Even the return to the community where he said he felt so happy when he was young (and acting was probably furthest from his mind) is probably part of the renewal process for him.
Judging from the photos he himself has posted, Hugh is looking refreshed!
I am eager to see what the new steps will be!
Jo
