Hugh Jackman Blew The Audition For A Popular Film With Sandra Bullock
Hugh Jackman blew an audition to appear opposite Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality by being unprepared and slow.
We all know Hugh Jackman for his talent on and off the stage. The actor is a force of nature on the Broadway stage and a huge reason why many comic book fans are excited about the upcoming Deadpool 3, where he reprises his iconic role as Wolverine. One thing fans may not know is that Jackman once auditioned for a romantic comedy role opposite Sandra Bullock.
Speaking about the audition during an interview with Variety, Hugh Jackman revealed he auditioned for the film Miss Congeniality and said it was the very first time he had ever tested with another yet. Before he was known for cutting folks with his adamantium claws in the X-Men franchise, Jackman said he was considered a “nobody” in the industry. He admitted that he couldn’t keep up with scene partner Sandra Bullock while reading for her on-screen love interest FBI agent Eric Matthews.
Hugh Jackman continued to say Bullock was “amazing” and “quick and fast.” One of the issues the X-Men actor admitted that plagued him during the audition was not “knowing the script well enough.” Jackman said it was “humiliating” that his agent at the time insisted he audition for the role of agent Matthews as negotiation leverage for a role he’d already been offered in the film Someone Like You opposite Ashley Judd.
Ultimately the role of agent Matthews went to Benjamin Bratt, whom fans may remember played the love interest for Halle Berry’s character in Catwoman. Luckily Hugh Jackman was heading towards his big break by the time he auditioned for Miss Congeniality. The actor had wrapped production on Bryan Singer’s first X-Men movie, which many considered helped kickstart the new age of superhero movies and launched Jackman into superstar status.
Hugh Jackman would continue to play the character Wolverine for 15-plus years. The studio made three standalone Wolverine movies with Jackman, including the Oscar-nominated 2017 drama Logan. For years fans believed Logan was Jackman’s final appearance as the famed comic book character.
However, that all changed when Ryan Reynolds announced via his YouTube channel that Deadpool 3 would see the return of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. The announcement was made months after Marvel presented their slate for phases 5 and 6 at San Diego Comic-Con and didn’t reference Deadpool during their presentation at Disney’s D23 Expo. Reynolds and Jackman have a very close working relationship which began when the two starred together in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Hugh Jackman revealed that he decided to return to his most famous role because of star Ryan Reynolds. The actor stated Reynolds had been pleading with him “on the daily” for a Deadpool and Wolverine crossover movie. Deadpool even referenced Jackman in the previous entries of his film franchise.
Now that Hugh Jackman is back as Wolverine, it’s only a matter of time before fans start speculating on a Miss Congeniality reboot featuring Jackman. It would be a nice bit of redemption for the actor who still remembers that infamous audition way back when. If he does appear in a Miss Congeniality reboot, hopefully he’s showing off his Wolverine claws to Sandra Bullock.
