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"Wolverine" BEHIND THE SCENES by Tim Nasson April 17, 2009
Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of his duties as producer was casting. "This film has lots of great characters new to the X-Men movies," says Jackman. "It was particularly rewarding to establish these new characters and find the right actors to play them." Jackman the producer certainly put Jackman the actor through his paces, including a grueling physical training regimen that left him in the best shape of his life. Although he trained hard for each of the previous X-Men films, Jackman's mantra to exceed expectations for X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE led him to achieve new levels of physical preparation. "With the previous X-Men films, I never had Logan looking exactly as I wanted him to look," Jackman explains. "For this one, I wanted Logan to look animalistic, veins popping out, and coiled like a spring. I wanted audiences to say, 'Okay, this guy is frightening; this guy could easily rip someone's head off." In addition to spending countless hours in the gym, Jackman upped his protein and caloric intake to levels befitting a professional athlete. A typical day began at 4:00 a.m., when he would awaken to drink a specially prepared protein shake. Then, up for good at 6:00 a.m. for weight training, during which he would sometimes find himself staying in character to maximize his workout. "I lift twenty percent harder, heavier and longer as Wolverine, than if I train as myself," Jackman explains, with a laugh. "As myself, I could easily say, 'Ah, that's enough [weight] training. But as Wolverine, it'd be: 'Now, I'm loving lifting the extra weight.'" As physically imposing as Jackman became, he didn't lose the athleticism that he's brought not only to his action film roles, but to his stage work. "The camera loves Hugh," points out producer Lauren Shuler Donner. "He has a dancer's grace - it's much more than just 'pumping up' for the role." Jackman's work ethic and training regimen impressed the production's entire team, especially Liev Schreiber, whose Victor Creed faces off several times with his on-screen nemesis, Jackman's Logan. "Hugh definitely made me lift my own game," says Schreiber, who gained 40 pounds of muscle for the role. "There was a definite chemistry and competition in our training and stunts. Just to do a fight scene with Hugh was terrific, because as a dancer he has that kind of discipline and choreography. We have some remarkable fight scenes together." In addition upping the ante for the action and bringing fresh characters to the X-Men film franchise, the filmmakers decided to change shooting locations. While "X-Men" was well served by its Toronto locations and sets, and "X2" and "X-Men: The Last Stand" made maximum use of Vancouver's impressive settings and soundstages, most of X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE was shot in New Zealand and Australia, with a few key sequences planned for Vancouver. "My desire to be challenged for this film included finding a new home for the production," says Jackman. "While honoring the style of the previous X-Men films, I wanted this one to look bigger and different. There's something otherworldly about New Zealand. It's so magical. It helped elevate our world and the film's reality. Adds producer John Palermo: "Shooting in Australia and New Zealand has opened up the X-Men universe. Audiences are going to be really excited about the film's look. We were very lucky to have access to the countries' resources and amazing exteriors." Jackman, director Gavin Hood, director of photography Donald M. McApline, ACS/ASC ("Moulin Rouge"), and production designer Barry Robison used a cross section of those countries' sets and locations to replicate five wars, the city of New Orleans, high schools in the U.S., and the remote Canadian wilderness. According to McAlpine, New Zealand's magnificent vistas were invaluable, especially for sequences set at the fictional Canadian location of Alkali Lake (home of the Weapon X program) and the rural paradise, filmed on New Zealand's South Island, where Logan finds an all-too-temporary respite with his love, Kayla Silverfox. Says McAlpine: "He's leading an idyllic existence, with a cabin (designed by Robison) set on a peak, surrounded by even more massive mountain ranges." New Zealand's South Island was also home for one of the film's big action set pieces, featuring a helicopter chase and crash. Second unit director Peter MacDonald ("The Bourne Ultimatum") worked with Hood to oversee the spectacular action, which also included blowing up a farmhouse, and Logan taking a thrilling ride on what becomes his iconic Harley Davidson. Then it was on to Sydney, Australia, where the production filmed on locations throughout the city, including an abandoned hospital, a long-disused 1920s theater that became a boxing ring where Logan battles the 700-pound Blob, Centennial Park, the stunning beach on the North Shore, and a soccer field that the production transformed into a traveling carnival. But the most notable location was Cockatoo Island, which the production turned into an abandoned nuclear power plant - the home of Stryker's laboratory and a "mutant containment area." The Island was once Australia's largest shipyard, boasting a dry dock built by convicts in 1857, and also the site of an imperial prison. It provided the perfect palette for the film's art department to create the sinister, isolated world of Stryker and his mutant experiments. The long-awaited motion picture debut of Gambit sees the mutant holding court in his home turf, New Orleans. The filmmakers captured the magic of the character and his city, at Fox Studios, Australia, in Sydney. The design team created a New Orleans alleyway, the scene of an explosive fight scene involving Logan, Gambit and Wraith. The controlled environment of the state-of-the-art facility enabled the stunt and special effects teams to execute the elaborate action. Cast and stunt doubles scaled walls, leapt across rooftops, and felt the full force of Gambit's exploding poker cards and boe staff. For the sequence depicting Logan and Victor hurtling through the battlegrounds of not one, but four wars, the two brothers take on the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, negotiate the trenches of World War I, land at Normandy Beach in World War II, and face the horrors of the Vietnam conflict. Costume designer Louise Mingenbach was tasked with designing the appropriate military garb for the hundreds of extras cast as soldiers. Armory specialists were brought in to assist with uniform accuracy and gun handling. This sequence saw the end of principal photography in Australia and New Zealand. There remained the long-planned Canadian portion of the shoot, required to capture certain Canadian backdrops and weather conditions that could not be duplicated elsewhere; and when that wrapped, the critical post-production process kicked into high gear. As Jackman continued to work tirelessly on the project, he took time out to reflect upon his own "origins" with the character of Wolverine. As many know, his casting in 2000's "X-Men" - his Hollywood film debut - came just days before he had to step before the cameras. At first, Jackman's unfamiliarity with the character and the X-Men mythology gave him second thoughts about taking the role. "I thought 'X-Men' was kind of an unusual choice to turn into a movie. And a guy with claws coming out of his hands? Of course, I was as yet unaware of the character and property's incredibly rich history - and if I had known, I probably would have thought the role was too much pressure - and too much to live up to. "If anyone had told me there would one day be a Wolverine movie, I'd have laughed," Jackman continues. "I had no idea of the effect that the X-Men movies would have. And I couldn't be more grateful to the fans and to the audiences."
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