Hugh Jackman Recalls the ‘Horrifying’ Moment He Stabbed a Stunt Woman With His Wolverine Claws
It seems hard enough to manage those claws when the cameras are rolling, but now The Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman reveals it is equally difficult when the cameras are off. Speaking to British Vogue in a recent interview, Jackman shares a story in which a stunt woman wound up on the wrong end of Wolverine’s famous weapons. And her reaction is priceless.
Hugh Jackman’s history as Wolverine
Having first appeared in 2000’s X-Men, Jackman has been playing Wolverine for nearly a quarter of a century. Equally astounding is the fact that Jackman is the only actor to ever play the legendary character on the big screen. It is hard, at this point, to imagine anyone else in the role.
In total, he has portrayed the character in nine films including seven X-Men movies and two stand-alone Wolverine movies: 2013’s The Wolverine and 2017’s Logan.
The actor accidentally Wolverine-d a stunt woman
Speaking to British Vogue recently, Jackman took part in an interview asking Hollywood’s biggest stars what their funniest moment on set was. Jackman, laughing, says, “I stabbed the stunt double with one of my claws.”
Admittedly, the claws are among the most formidable weapons in comic book lore. Made of adamantium, Wolverine’s gleaming, retractable claws make easy work of slicing and dicing just about everyone that looks at him the wrong way. But much of what movie-goers see (particularly in the more recent movies) is done by gifted VFX teams.
This was not the case in X-Men all those years ago. “On the very first film, we had real metal claws and the girl who was playing Mystique, Rebecca Romijn, her stunt double and I were doing a fight sequence in the Statue of Liberty,” Jackman tells Express. Jackman goes on to describe how the scene went wrong, explaining that the stunt double missed an important step in the choreography which resulted in her being stabbed in the arm.
“Now to be fair,” Jackman tells British Vogue, “It was not my fault. But regardless, one of the claws went directly straight into the arm of this woman.”
According to Jackman, the wound was significant with “blood pouring out,” and Jackman admits to being horrified by the incident. But, to his surprise, the stunt double just raised her arm in victory and shouted, “I’ve been stabbed by Wolverine!” Classic.
Will Hugh Jackman make more Wolverine movies?
Following his filming of Logan in 2017, Jackman said he was finally ready to move on. Then, in September 2022, he stunned fans with a joint announcement with Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds revealing his involvement in the upcoming Deadpool 3.
When asked why Jackman decided to return as Wolverine, the actor told Forbes, “It was here,” pointing to his heart. “I can’t tell you exactly why… it just came to me as a flash.” The actor remembers being on a drive with his family and asking himself “What do I really want to do?’ And Boom,” Jackman says. “There it came.”
Deadpool 3 will see Jackman reprise his role as Wolverine for a 10th movie. According to IMDb, the film sees Reynolds’ Deadpool travel forward in time so the pair can battle a joint foe. And, judging by the pair’s hilarious announcement, it’s going to be a claws-out good time.
