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When it comes to being a nice guy in Hollywood, Hugh Jackman’s reputation precedes him, along with his showmanship and commitment. One person who knows this firsthand is his X-Men co-star Anna Paquin. Their time filming the original X-Men trilogy left Paquin with many Jackman stories. That’s why the actress' description of The Greatest Showman star painted him as a delightful badass.
While shooting the first X-Men film, Anna Paquin and Hugh Jackman formed quite a bond. But that shouldn’t be too surprising given how many scenes Rogue and Wolverine had together. Years after those films, Paquin revealed what their unique bond was like. The True Blood star said thisnabout her unlikely friendship with Jackman:
Hugh was definitely my best friend on the first one. Then they actually started bringing in cast members that were close to my age, so there was a kind of younger little gaggle of late teens, twentysomethings. But Hugh was the person that I was close to because I had all my scenes with him and he's just wonderful. We spent so much time together in the first one and he is still a lovely, gracious human being. He got put through the wringer on that first one and never, ever complained. Like minus 40, he's being dropped off some building onto his back over and over and over again. He still had all the time in the world to be a nice, normal person.
Considering how much of a physical commitment the X-Men films were, Anna Paquin painted the picture of a man who was deeply committed to his craft. It was nice to know Hugh Jackman and Paquin could still form a bond amongst all that chaos. Performing stunts can be demanding and taxing for any star, so still being a nice guy in those conditions is commendable. It seems the two still are friends years after completing the original trilogy.
During her interview on The Jess Cagle Show, Anna Paquin shared a personal moment between the two on set. The Oscar winner revealed she had to pick cigar bits from Hugh Jackman’s teeth. She mentioned Jackman as Wolverine was smoking a cigar while his adamantium claws are still visible. Unfortunately, this created a dilemma for retakes, leading to Paquin helping her co-star. As a fan of the original X-Men trilogy, I always wondered how that scene played out off-screen. It’s nice to know Paquin had his back at that moment.
Hearing Anna Paquin talking about her friendship with Hugh Jackman made me reminisce about the 2000s X-Men films. given the mutant outfit will be introduced to the MCU eventually. It proved the Hugh Jackman is just as amazing off-screen as he is onscreen. So if you want to watch Paquin’s Rogue and Jackman’s Wolverine in action, you can watch the first film on Disney+.
