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Hugh Jackman: Excellent Charisma with a Lack of Range
When I was watching The Prestige for my post about the film, I found myself wondering why Hugh Jackman doesn’t take on more roles like the one he takes on in that film. He’s such a lovable and popular person off screen that you’d think he would get more big time roles.
What I realized is that he doesn’t really seem to have too much range. He’s a two speed actor.
Obviously, he’s best known for being Wolverine in the X-Men franchise. That character is very intense, tough, and often angry. Jackman played Wolverine for 17 years, so it’s not surprising that he has that facet of acting down pat. He even showed off that facet of his acting in a non-X-Men movie in Prisoners, where he played a father who would stop at nothing to find his daughter.
Conversely, Jackman recently starred in his second big musical, The Greatest Showman, in which he plays a charming and lovable entrepreneur. This kind and helpful spirit is similar to his character of Valjean in Les Misérables.
In The Prestige, he brings both of these speeds to the table. We see him act in a very charming manner as a stage performer, and we see his angry side come out as he tries to figure out Borden.
I first started thinking about this after reading an article on The Ringer about Ryan Reynolds, around the time Deadpool 2 came out. The article explained how Reynolds being such a nice and fun loving guy contributed to him staying at least partly relevant in Hollywood, even as he wasn’t producing the best work, to say the least.
Now, Jackman’s never gone through a time where people were saying his career was over. But there have been some times when his only prominent films came from the X-Men franchise. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. 20th Century Fox seems to breed new X-Men movies like rabbits. But I think the fact that he wasn’t really doing anything else kind of speaks to his lack of range as an actor.
But we, as movie viewers, don’t care about this. It’s like The Rock. He can put out as many action movies or family comedies as he wants, but people are still going to flock to see them. It’s because he’s such a great public figure and Hollywood ambassador. You would be hard-pressed to go out on the street and find someone who genuinely doesn’t like The Rock as a person.
The same can be said for Hugh Jackman.
Whether it’s singing when his doctor told him not to, or being interviewed by Ryan Reynolds, or candidly telling a story about peeing his pants on stage, Hugh Jackman is demanding to be loved. But he’s not doing it purposely. It’s just the way he is.
This is why we look past the fact that he doesn’t take on very diverse roles. If we get the chance to see him sing his heart out or be awesome with claws coming from his hands, we’re going to take that chance.