Dougray Scott Blames Tom Cruise for Not Letting Him Play Wolverine in X-Men

For generations of viewers, Hugh Jackman‘s take on Wolverine is one of the definitive portrayals of a comic book character. Shortly before Jackman was cast as the X-Men member, the role was initially offered to Dougray Scott, who was forced to turn down the part due to scheduling conflicts with Mission Impossible II. For two decades, some fans have wondered what could’ve been if Scott had been able to take the part — but it sounds like that was out of his hands. In a recent interview with Telegraph, Scott revealed that Mission Impossible star Tom Cruise had pressured him into staying on the sequel throughout its lengthy production, even though that meant turning down filming 2000’s X-Men.

“That one was out of my control,” Scott explained. “Tom Cruise didn’t let me do it. We were doing Mission Impossible and he was like, ‘you’ve got to stay and finish the film’, and I said I will, but I’ll go and do that as well. For whatever reason he said I couldn’t. He was a very powerful guy. Other people were doing everything to make it work.”

Even with the decision not entirely being in Scott’s hands, it seems like he isn’t bitter that Jackman ultimately got the part.

“I love what Hugh did with it,” Scott revealed. “He’s a lovely guy.”

In the time since, Scott has gone on to enter the space of comic book adaptations, as he currently plays Colonel Jacob Kane on The CW’s Batwoman.

“I know, I get asked about that a lot,” Scott told ComicBook.com last year. “Comic book stuff wasn’t something I had to do. I’m excited to do this because it’s new, it’s a character that people don’t know a lot about — Batwoman — so I think from that point-of-view, it’s exciting for everyone: for the network, for the audience. The comic book world is a fantasy world; it’s very different from your normal dramas, so I think people can escape into it. But it’s relatable. If you have issues that are examined and explored in the show, it makes it more resonant, even though it’s a comic book world and you’re dealing with characters who don’t behave in a normal way because they’ve got super powers or they’re in extraordinary situations. I still think the more you humanize them, the more you make them relatable, the better it will be for an audience. I think the characters are really well-written.”

“I think it’s good to play complex characters,” he said. “Whenever people call my character a bad guy, I try to find the human aspects, or the tricks of light within them. Similarly, when I’m playing someone who ostensibly is a good guy, I try and find the flaws and the dark side of them. It just makes them more human, and more relatable to people. [Jacob is] ostensibly a good guy, but he has a dark side. He’s a very angry character; he’s tough. In the comic books, he looks like a quintessential quarterback. If could do that if I put on weight, but I’m looking forward to playing it a little differently, and a little more complex.”

What do you think of Dougray Scott’s latest comments about almost playing Wolverine? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!