This is the last time I will ever play Wolverine: Hugh Jackman

In the highly-anticipated movie, Logan, from 20th Century Fox, Hugh Jackman reprises his iconic role as James ‘Logan’ Howlett, best known to movie fans worldwide as Wolverine. But Hugh Jackman is preparing to say goodbye to the character forever with this film. Unlike the previous entries in the Marvel franchise, Logan has a more serious and emotional tone, which caused Hugh to get tearful at times during filming. The movie is set to release in India on March 3 this year. Hollywood superstar Hugh Jackman in a conversation about Logan and his journey so far:

When you began talking about this project with director James Mangold, what was the first thing you discussed?

Well, the first discussion was just, ‘Will you do another one?’ And I immediately said ‘Yes’, which he was thrilled about. Because of all Jim’s talents – and he might be one of the most successful directors in Hollywood, he’s tackled so many different genres so brilliantly – he’s really an amazing writer and developer of scripts. When we worked on the last Wolverine and on Kate and Leopold, the first movie I did with him, they were scripts that had been written that he directed. So I was really excited about the possibility of what would come if Jim had a clean slate, a blank canvas and that’s what we had.

Did you already have an idea of what you wanted to do with this film?

I had a pretty clear vision. Actually, I had a very clear vision of what I wanted this film to be. I was with a friend and we were having a couple of drinks and he was like, ‘If you could do whatever you wanted with the character, what would it be?’ And I just started talking and talking… the next morning I was with Michele [Schweitzer], my partner in crime, and I began telling her and she suggested writing it down so I immediately recorded it, she still has it.

Is it an original story?

One of the first things I said to Jim was I had a vision of something closer to Unforgiven. Not necessarily the story but what Unforgiven did back in the day. There’s so much fan following and history to a western with Clint Eastwood in the lead but he kind of subverted that a little bit. It’s still a western. It’s still Clint.

Where do we find Wolverine at the beginning of this story?

He’s very lost. He’s despondent. He’s older. There’s quite a few more grey hairs and he’s not well. He’s physically sick and I would say spiritually, emotionally, he’s not in a great place. He finds out that there is a very high levels of mercury in his body. Apparently from eating tins of tuna but I thought well, what happens when a guy walks around for 130 years filled with metal. Even though he has an immune system and can heal, at some point everyone on this planet starts to slow down.