ProSource Media Talks Exclusively With Hugh Jackman at the World Premiere of X-Men Origins: Wolverine
May 1st, 2009
It’s not true that Hugh Jackman owns the entire world, these days. It just seems that way.
The accomplished actor and reigning People Magazine “Sexiest Man Alive” has appeared in a string of critical and commercial big-screen blockbusters in recent years and is now poised to cement his reputation as a supreme “A-list” leading man with his newest and biggest movie yet … X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Even as Jackman’s popularity has soared among moviegoers, he has developed a huge fanbase among bodybuilders and athletes who admire the star’s commitment to a rigorous workout regimen and his ability to transform his physique to match specific movie roles. Recently, for instance, Jackman trimmed down and leaned out to the extreme to portray a cattle drover in the Outback romance, Australia, then added several pounds of rock-hard muscle to prepare for his latest screen turn as the dynamic and conflicted Wolverine in the X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Raves for the First Summer Blockbuster of 2009
As you might expect, this sizeable fanbase is already turning out in massive numbers for the new film’s nationwide premiere, and the early response has been ecstatic. This compelling prequel deftly balances the dramatic psychological sources of Logan’s evolution into Wolverine, a mutant superhero wracked by rage and guilt, with all of the awe-inspiring visual thrills millions of viewers have come to associate with the X-Men franchise.
Beginning in the uncharted wilderness of northwest Canada in the 1840s, X-Men Origins: Wolverine recounts the charged love/hate relationship that grows between Logan and his brother Victor (Liev Schreiber), the similarly endowed mutant who will become the villain Sabretooth. After fighting side-by-side in the American Civil War, two World Wars, and Vietnam, the brothers part ways as Wolverine joins a secret Black Ops unit and is recruited by General Stryker to join a team of super mutants. The twists and turns of this stirring narrative will have fans of the series exclaiming again and again as key facets of Wolverine’s conflicted nature and motives are suddenly made startlingly clear.
As for the astonishing special effects, we don’t want to give too much away here, but one scene—in which Wolverine leaps from an exploding truck, clings to an attacking helicopter, slices the rotor blades, rides it to the ground, leap frees, and walk away—has to be seen to be believed. X-Men Origins: Wolverine, under the brilliant direction of Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, Rendition), has set the bar dauntingly high for every effects-laden contender to follow it this summer.
Photo Credits: Twentieth Century Fox and James Fisher; X-Men Character Likenesses TM & [c] 2009 Marvel Characters, Inc. Al rights reserved. TM and [c] 2009 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights rights reserved. Not for sale or duplication.
An Exclusive ProSource Media Interview with Hugh Jackman
ProSource Media caught up with Hugh Jackman on the red carpet at the Tempe, AZ premiere of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and asked him about his amazing transformations.
What was Jackman’s mindset going in to the intense workout regimen that would prepare him for the rigors of becoming Wolverine once again?
Hugh: “What was more important to me was to be lean,” the affable superstar said. “I wanted to look like an animal! I wanted to look dangerous and powerful. Not just like, yeah, okay he works out. I wanted to look frightening.”
What was his regimen like? What was he eating?
Hugh: “Oh, it was tough. Training in the gym every day and for hours and hours at a time for six months … as the people who were around at the time will attest, it was pretty insane! But really the eating was the hardest part. To live in Australia where the food is so good and to have nothing to eat except steamed vegetables and steamed chicken for six months is tough.”
Does he have any philosophies with regard to attaining and maintaining peak physical condition?
Hugh: “For me it’s hard to put on a lot of muscle, so I have to lift very, very heavy weights. I have to be very careful and do a lot of stretching. Oh, and eat like you’ve never eaten in your life before. If you’re hungry, it’s been too long, never be hungry.”
Want to know more? Stay tuned for the launch of ProSource-Media.com. ProSource Media will be the first online community to utilize a unique array of informative profiles and on-camera interviews with pro athletes, bodybuilders, and celebrities, while also allowing you to share and compare your own workout and nutrition/supplementation tips with various others around the world. You’ll find exclusive interview footage with the entire cast of X-Men Origins: Wolverine; actors Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool), Live Schrieber, Will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) and of course Hugh Jackman.
Join any of ProSource Media’s group pages on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and YouTube to learn how you can be eligible to win one of several T-shirts signed by the likes of Hugh Jackman, All-Pro NFL running back Brian Westbrook, Florida Marlins slugger Dan Uggla, the cast of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and more!
Jennie Finch is perhaps the most well-known and celebrated women’s fast pitch softball player of all time. With her athleticism and competitiveness on the ball field only matched by her grace and beauty off it, Jennie has vastly helped to move women’s softball into the mainstream public eye. At age 28, her list of career accomplishments already reads like the stuff of legend. As a young girl growing up in La Mirada, CA, it was very clear from a young age there was nothing this tall athletic blond couldn’t do on a softball field. Finch displayed excellent hitting and base-running skills and was an absolutely dominant pitcher. After a magnificent high school career in which she went 50-12, with six perfect games, 13 no-hitters, 784 strikeouts, and posted a 0.15 ERA in 445 innings, Jennie moved to Tucson, AZ to play her college ball for the University of Arizona Wildcats. Playing under Team USA head coach Mike Candrea, Finch solidified her status as a young phenom by becoming a three-time All-American and winning the Honda Award as the nation’s top collegiate player her sophomore and junior seasons. She also helped lead the Wildcats to the NCAA championship title as a junior by going 32-0, and setting an NCAA record for consecutive victories, with an astounding 60 wins.
Opening my morning email I received a request from a major fitness group asking my opinion of the business’ “next big thing.” After going through a number of points including the deeply troubling world’s economy and the return to a notion of “value for service”, the conclusion was the “next big thing” was in-fact a return to tried and true methods and fun exercises that harken back to games of our youth.