Hugh Jackman reacts to his original Wolverine audition tape from 1999

Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman cringed watching footage of his original audition tape for the famous superhero role.

Jackman appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday (18 August), when the talk show host played the old footage to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the actor’s debut as the iconic X-Men member.

The Australian actor, who gained international fame after playing the Marvel superhero, laughed while watching himself recite lines in the grainy home video from 1999.

In the short clip, a young Jackman accompanies his scripted lines with a hand gesture to mimic Wolverine’s iconic claws and snarl. “A little more magician than Wolverine,” the actor joked after seeing himself on screen.

The Greatest Showman star recalled the audition being “weird” and a “Hail Mary pass”. He went on to explain that he was the “back-up option” to Dougray Scott, who had already been cast in the part by the time Jackman auditioned. Scott then became caught up filming Mission Impossible 2 and had to back out of the Wolverine role.

Jackman, 51, also revealed that the entire audition ran for a mere 20 seconds. “It wasn’t much longer,” the actor joked.

He also tenderly remembered Kevin Feige, the ex-Marvel Studios president, driving him to dinner and to the airport during filming.

Jackman retired from the Wolverine role with 2017’s Logan. He previously played the part in a number of X-Men movies and spin-offs, including The Wolverine and X-Men: First Class.

Following troubled production dates and pandemic-related delays, the X-Men spin-off The New Mutants, starring Game of Thrones actor Maisie Williams and Stranger Things star Charlie Heaton, will be released on 4 September.