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X-Men Origins: Wolverine in our magazines

THE MOVIE: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

THE STARS:
Hugh Jackman • Liev Schreiber • Ryan Reynolds • Taylor Kitsch • Will.I.Am • Lynn Collins
DIRECTOR: Gavin Hood

Chronically the younger life of Logan/Wolverine, the movie explores how the mutant became the iconic character the audience knows. It also introduces a new team of mutants that make up Team X, Wolverine’s brother Victor Creed/aka Sabretooth (Schreiber), Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Reynolds), Wraith (Will.I.Am), Remy LeBeau/Gambit (Kitsch), and Kayla (Collins) the woman Logan loves, whom triggers his involvement with the ominous Weapon X program.

U.S. RELEASE: May 1 2009, Nationwide • Rated: PG-13

THE COMMENTS:

HUGH JACKMAN:
For me it’s a rare experience, as a producer, to be involved so heavily with casting and to feel so attached to a scene you’re about to play with everybody and the actors who are playing the characters. Some directors don’t like to rehearse so, often on film, you can turn up the day before and meet someone who is playing your wife or your lover. I was so excited to be involved because movies exist on relationships and characters, and to be in every one of these scenes was a great thrill for me.

LYNN COLLINS:
We were on this location and Hugh came up to me and said, “You know, we’ve seen some of the dailies and we just think that your outfit needs to be skimpier,” so I was like, “Okay, whatever.” He was like, “So, we found something for your. We put it in your trailer. Can you please try it on?” So I got into my trailer and there is a [tiny] silver spandex dress, and I had this panic attack, I put it one and it didn’t fit. You could see my butt and my breasts. It was horrible. I opened the door and everybody was cracking up, and Hugh was like, “April Fool’s.”

TAYLOR KITSCH:
I felt the pressure of playing Gambit, especially before I got to Oz, but the biggest memory that stuck out for me was when I first got there. I wasn’t working my first day. I was nervous and, when I first met Hugh, it was really great because I just felt that I was already at home and I had the opportunity of a lifetime, and this guy was going to catch me, if I fell. He’s ready to take risks. With all the pressure, it was just really great to know that I was going to work with someone that was so genuine and open.

RYAN REYNOLDS:
I honestly worked probably the longest day of my life on this movie. It’s a huge movie, so there were several units going at once, and I had a day where I was going back and forth, from each unit. It was about a 22-hour day, and there was make-up and all these things, and I had to spin these swords at a million miles an hour around my body and, by about hour 19, I had a couple of extremely close calls with these katana swords. When you’re spinning these swords, you wanna wear pants for that. I honestly just about lost my future legacy, a couple of times, and I had to take a little break and pour myself a nice shot of espresso, so I could carry on.

WILL.I.AM:
The moment that sticks out the most was the inauguration because I had just got finished performing [with the Black Eyed Peas] and then, straight after that, I did CNN, rushed to the airplane, flew back and put on my Wraith suit. I remember staying on set that day, after doing the inauguration, and it was just two different worlds. Of course, I was excited and wanted to share, but I wanted to focus on what I was there to do. It was wonderful to see everybody’s face when I walked in. Everybody was excited and said, “Wow, we just saw it on TV,” and I was like, “I was there!” The most memorable thing, for me, was that day.

Written by Judy Sloane. Back to top

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Feature © 2009 Visual Imagination Limited.
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