Hugh Jackman gave his final performance as Wolverine in James Mangold’s Logan, the superb and bittersweet farewell to the character released earlier this year. This was after a 17-year, 9-movie run playing Logan in Fox’s X-Men franchise (that Deadpool “cameo” notwithstanding), so Jackman and his fans are naturally still reeling from his departure. But it wasn’t a decision he made lightly, as our ongoing coverage can attest. The actor thought long and hard about it, when he wasn’t dropping clues in his social channels about his appearance in X-Men: Apocalypse. But after a dinner with Jerry Seinfeld, Jackman says he was ready to walk away.
Jackman talked about that fateful meal with Willem Dafoe as part of Variety’s “Actors On Actors.” Apparently, Jackman asked Seinfeld how he made up his mind to end his popular sitcom, and the Seinfeld co-creator said he’d “always believed, you should never spend everything creatively because it’s almost herculean to start up again. You should always have something in the tank.’” He espoused a “leave the party before it gets too late kind of theory,” an idea so profound for Jackman that he decided on the drive home from whatever eatery he and Seinfeld were at to put away the old claws and sideburns for good. Their conversation also inspired Jackman to “[treat] the character as a human being (instead of a superhero) who’s lived a life of violence,” a key element of the film.
Seinfeld and Jackman have known each other for years, so it’s not that surprising that the Wolverine actor would take his advice to heart, we guess. But we hope the comedian was at least wearing a cape when he doled out his advice.