Who said that Hugh Jackman is done with Wolverine?
The 54-year old Australian actor is officially back as X-Men's Wolverine in Marvel Cinematic Universe's Deadpool 3 starring Ryan Reynolds.
In a recent Instagram video, Jackman shared a peek at the planking routine he and his trainer Beth Lewis have been using to help him work his core. The actor used planking for his abdominal muscles while it contributes greater stability for his shoulders and hips.
In the video, he has placed a plate on his back to really test his core strength and stability while bracing, and his feet are placed on a slider, providing even more of a challenge as he struggles to maintain zero flexion of the spine.
Jackman also shared a photo of his daily meal plan prepared by world-renowned Chef Mario Batali as his bulking phase goes into overdrive ahead of filming Deadpool 3. He captioned: “Bulking. A day in the life. Thank you, Chef Mario, for helping me stay healthy and properly fed whilst… Becoming. Wolverine. Again.”
Jackman’s meals include black bass (2,000 calories), Patagonia salmon (2,100 calories), two chicken burgers (around 1,000 calories each) and two grass-fed sirloins (1,100 calories each).
The actor is consuming over 8,000 calories a day now as he gets bulked up for Wolverine.
Back in January, Jackman told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show that he was building up to eating 6,000 calories a day ahead of playing Wolverine. Jackman was on Broadway at the time starring in The Music Man.
“I’m building up. I’m on about 4,500-5,000 calories at the moment. I wore a heart rate monitor for The Music Man because my trainer said, ‘I need to know what I’m working with here, because I’m trying to bulk you up.’ I burned 1,500 calories in the show, eight times a week. So, she goes: ‘Oh, you gotta eat.’ So, I was eating 4,500 calories a day, it was not pretty. Now I’m just eating and training.”
One thing Jackman won’t be doing to bulk up is taking steroids. The actor said that the physical prep to play Wolverine often took a toll on his body, but he never once turned to steroids to pack on pounds of muscle.
“Over the years people have wondered, did he juice? Did he take steroids? No, I love my job. And I love Wolverine. I got to be careful what I say here, but I had been told anecdotally what the side effects are of that. And I was like, ‘I don’t love it that much.’ So no, I just did it the old school way. And I tell you, I’ve eaten more chickens — I’m so sorry to all the vegans and vegetarians and to the chickens of the world. Literally the karma is not good for me. If the deity has anything related to chickens, I’m in trouble.”
Jackman has been playing the character of Wolverine for over 20 years, beginning with the 2000 movie X-Men, and his physique throughout that franchise has changed considerably.
In a 2021 interview, the actor reflected on how he began his physical transformation journey way back in 1999 while preparing for the first film, and said that starting out lifting very light weights and progressing from there was what worked best for him.
"By the time you're doing your third or fourth set, you actually really want to lift because your body has gotten used to it. You just want to go and rip it."
Back in 2017, Jackman said that his last Wolverine role would be the film Logan. He's done playing Wolverine and wants to move on to play other film characters. He was successful in his non-Wolverine roles in the films The Greatest Showman, The Front Runner, Bad Education, Reminiscence, and The Son.
Ryan Reynolds, who stars as Deadpool, had reportedly asked Jackman to reprise his role as Wolverine persistently over the last four years. Even though MCU has eyed an actor to play the new Wolverine, Reynolds insisted on Jackman and nobody else.
Jackman, who previously stated he had 100% hung up his claws, finally gave in. Last September, Reynolds announced the pairing in a Deadpool Update video. In it, seated on a sofa, he talks about ideas for the upcoming movie, only to have Jackman walk by behind him, chomping on an apple. Reynolds asks, “Hey Hugh, wanna play Wolverine one more time?”
“Yeah, sure Ryan,” Jackman casually responds as he climbs a flight of stairs.
Reynolds is also busy bulking and recently shared a similar fitness shot on his own Instagram Story, captioning it, “I’m not training for Deadpool. I’m training to spend several months with Hugh Jackman — who’s not nearly as nice as everyone thinks.”
The Deadpool 3 release date is November 8, 2024. Other cast includes Leslie Uggams, Emma Corrin, T.J. Miller, Owen Wilson, and Tom Hiddleston.
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