Hugh Jackman Explains How He Approached Playing Older Wolverine In Logan

With the release of Logan approaching, fans are becoming more and more eager to see how the film comes together. The Old Man Logan comics that the movie is inspired by have become a quintessential piece of Wolverine lore in the nine years since their release, with readers enjoying the unique take on Logan. Old Man Logan has even recently reappeared in Marvel Comics, with a new ongoing continuation of the series debuting in 2016.

Many have been wondering how exactly Hugh Jackman, who plays the title character, will inhabit the role, and how he will make it different from his previous appearances across the X-Men franchise.

In an interview with Empire Magazine, Jackman revealed some of the process he went through to get into character. This included, as it turns out, a physical trick that he borrowed from British actor Jim Broadbent (who some will recognize from his roles in Hot Fuzz and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince).

“When he was playing older, [Broadbent] would tape a little stone to his heel. I would have that, just to remind myself of a limp.”

Jackman went into further detail of what a small change like that would mean for his performance as Logan. “His body hurts. His joints hurt. His heart hurts. Psychologically, he’s damaged.”

This sentiment was echoed by the film’s director, James Mangold, who added the title character “kind of looks like Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven.”

According to Jackman, this physical approach to Logan lends to one of the film’s big questions, which is “What’s the collateral damage of being Wolverine for all those years?”

Fans will have to wait until the film hits theaters on March 3rd to discover the exact answer to that question, as well as see Jackman bid farewell to the character he has carried since 2000.

Logan takes place in the year 2029, where mutant births have become extremely rare. The defenders of mutant kind, the X-Men, are long gone, and the only remains of them are an old and struggling Charles Xavier and a weary Logan. Logan’s vaunted healing factor has slowed, and at times doesn’t seem to work at all. When a young mutant needs his help, Logan has to unsheathe his claws once more. His job isn’t over yet.

Logan stars Hugh Jackman (Logan), Boyd Holbrook (Donald Pierce), Patrick Stewart (Charles Xavier), Dafne Keen (Laura Kinney/X-23), Doris Morgado (Maria), Stephen Merchant (Caliban), Elizabeth Rodriguez (Gabriela), and Richard E. Grant (Dr. Zander Rice). James Mangold is directing and helped on the screenplay along with Scott Frank and Michael Green.

Logan hits theaters on March 3, 2017.

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