Hugh Jackman at the 4th Annual "A Fine Romance" benefit held at Sony Studios in Culver City, Calif. on November 8, 2008.

Hugh Jackman, voted People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive, spoke to MediaBlvd Magazine about making this epic tale of transformation, love and adventure.

MediaBlvd Magazine> How much did you have to practice the horse riding for this?

Hugh Jackman> Baz and I talked about the horse riding, early on. There were some descriptions of the horse riding in the script. I remember one that said, “Drover thunders across the outback, chasing a beast. He catches up to the beast, leaps off his horse, grabs the beast by the tail, wrestles it to the ground, pulls out his knife and slashes his balls off.” Then, it went on to say, “He is poetry in motion.” At which point, I thought, “I’ve got to get some lessons here.” Actors lie about horse riding. That’s the old joke. They ask, “Can you ride a horse?,” so you say, “Oh, absolutely! Since I was a kid.” But, this was something where the characters name was the Drover. If the movie was made here, you’d call him the Cowboy. They’re defined by where they are and what they do. For me, when I watch a great rider, there’s something beautiful about watching them. In a way, they’re more themselves and more at home, on that horse than anywhere else. We did everything, from jumping to cutting cattle, or whatever it was.

MediaBlvd> How did you develop the relationship with your horse, beyond just time in the saddle?

Hugh> To be clear, there were four main horses that I worked with. When you work on a film, the horses are required to do different things. There’s not really one horse that can do everything. So, one horse was for rearing, and one horse was almost stoned, in personality, because when things are blowing up, you need a horse that can actually just stand there, but that kind of horse is not going to be able to do a stampede and chase. The main horse that we did the work with, who did the laying down and all of that, was named Buddy, and I spent a lot of time with him. It started with bareback riding. The only way you can really develop a relationship of trust with a horse is to not put a saddle on it because horses can sense it. I learned a lot about parenting from riding a horse. You can whack a horse. I’ve seen people do it. They whack them and they kick them, and you can get a horse to do something. But, I was very lucky to have two trainers who taught me how to make the horse feel it’s their idea. As a parent, that is the greatest thing I’ve ever learned. When you’re getting on a horse bareback, the horse knows that you trust them. And then, for days, you have to go wherever they want to go, and do whatever it is. If they want to ride up a hill or jump over a fence, you just go with them and say, “It’s okay. Whatever you want to do, I’m there.” And then, just very gradually, you make little suggestions like, “How about we climb down here?,” or “How about leading off with this hind leg here? And, now, let’s switch and lead off this side.” When the horse wants to do it, and you have that, it’s exhilarating.

MediaBlvd> Was there a campaign to keep the Drover shirtless throughout the movie?

Hugh> There was a great moment when we were shooting the outback shower scene which, by the way, is absolutely historically accurate. That’s exactly the technique they used. But, Baz was going for a movie that is a feast, has high comedy, has high tragedy, has romance, has swashbuckling moments, and has action and adventure. It has everything. So, when we were shooting that scene, I remember saying to Baz, “Are you sure this isn’t too much? Are they going to laugh? They’re going to think I’m a wanker here!” And, he said, “If we’re strong and really commit to the moment, the comedy of it will rise.” There were a couple members of the crew who took their shirts off, after the first little break, one of whom oiled himself up a little bit. Trust me, I got a lot of hell about that scene, when we were down there. It might have been a lot cooler having my shirt off for the whole movie because the weather was hard.  The very first scene we shot was the scene when we bring the cattle to Darwin at the end of the drove, and I had on what’s called a “dry-as-a-bone,” which is an all-weather coat. It goes down to your knees, and has a thick, padded lining. I had a woolen shirt on under it and leather pants, and I almost fainted, that first day of filming. (Production/Costume Designer) Catherine Martin had designed it for me to be wearing this coat for the whole movie, for the whole drove. Thank goodness, she decided to adjust my wardrobe for the rest of it. It was a little bit my fault, to be honest, because it was the first day on the horse and we were shooting in a place where it’s the real deal and, as an actor, I didn’t want to be prancing about with an umbrella above my head,  finding my Evian, and all that. So, I sat on the horse and the First A.D. said, “Baz will be ready in about five minutes,” and I said, “I’m fine. I’ll stay on the horse.” And, about a half-hour later, they said, “Listen, it might be another five minutes,” so I said, “No problem!” After about another half an hour, I felt this hand on my back and I said, “What are you doin’ mate? I’m fine,” and he said, “No, you’re not. You’re at a 45-degree angle to the horse.” He was holding me up. I said, “I might need 10 minutes. And, Catherine, can I talk to you about this coat?”

MediaBlvd> What was it like, working with your good friend Nicole Kidman? Is it easy to kiss a friend, or was it a little tougher to do the romantic scenes with her?

Hugh> I’ve known Nicole for a long time. When she first came to Hollywood, she lived with my wife (Deborah-Lee Furness). My wife was living here already, so Nicole moved in and, until she lived with Tom, she lived with Deb. They were very close friends, and still are close friends. I’ve seen her at parties, and all that, but it wasn’t until this film that we truly got to know each other and become friends, independent of my wife. Nicole is an amazing person to work with. She has a very mercurial quality and, in the best sense of the word, there’s a danger about her. No matter how much you know her, there’s always going to be something surprising. There’s always going to be something a little unpredictable that keeps you on your toes. She’s also very generous, incredibly hard-working and a very funny actor. With the kissing thing, Baz quite likes sunsets and kissing, so we ended up kissing quite a lot. The true answer to that is that it’s not the toughest day at the office, but it’s never particularly comfortable, making out with someone, in front of 70 people. That’s not really something that turns me on. I know it does for some people, but not me. In terms of the intimacy, Nicole and I talked about it and said, “Okay, we really need to take this seriously. We really need to portray this romance, and the passion and heat between these two, even though we know each other.” That’s really the biggest trap, for actors. Sometimes you can know someone too well and all the heat goes out of the room because you’re too familiar. I won’t give you the details of the conversation we had, but it was a really adult, ftlinevery open discussion. Thankfully, when I saw the movie for the first time, my wife was next to me and, after that very first kiss, which is quite a lingering, slow kiss, Deb leaned over to me and said, “That was great!” So, when your wife can give you the thumbs up, I thought, “We’re on the right track!” The other thing I should mention about the kiss is that it’s really amazing for me to kiss someone where I don’t have to have my shoes off, or be in a ditch, or the other actor is on a box, which is not sexy. It was really lovely. Nicole said, “I get to look up, for a change.”       

MediaBlvd> Nicole has said that having kids has helped her learn so much about herself. Do you feel that you’ve learned some things from having children?

Hugh> Oh, yeah. It makes you learn about yourself. It also makes you learn about your own parents. My wife quite often says, “Oh, hello Chris.” That’s my dad’s name. Things come out of my mouth that sound exactly like my dad, that I swore on my life I would never say -- the most annoying things. It’s sort of bizarre. You learn about your own relationship to your parents, and how you want to parent. Also, I’ve found that your marriage goes to a whole other level. You not only fall in love with your wife, in a whole different way, but you’re also forced to pull together your own philosophies about parenthood, even though you may have grown up in a completely different environment. Somehow, you’ve got to become this united front. So, I’m a big believer that the best way to learn and improve is to go outside of yourself. In acting, it’s really your scene partner and the director who you’re working with. That’s who you have to trust and be open to. It’s not a singular experience, when it comes to parenting with your wife. With children, they are just the most pure reflection of the truth, at any given moment. For example, not that I’m trying to bring it up, but I was just named People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive and, trust me, I never thought would happen, and none of my mates ever thought would happen. My son, Oscar, is eight, and he said, “You? You’ve gotta be kidding me!” I thought, “Ain’t that the truth!”

MediaBlvd> When you have a physical role like this, what do you do to train?

Hugh> I go to the gym in the morning, as much for a state of mind as a physical state. However, when you work with Baz, you may be doing close-up kissing, or you may be jumping over a six-foot fence with a horse. You don’t know what you’re going to be doing. That is the great thrill of it, and that is something that I love. It’s mainly about having the state of mind where, from the very first time, you’re ready to go. In terms of physicality and what you eat, it’s very important because you have to understand that what we know as a protein diet is pretty much what these drovers lived on. When they were out there, they would not eat a lot. They were lean, but they were very strong and muscley.

MediaBlvd> What did you do in the gym?

Hugh> When I say I was in the gym, we were actually in the outback with a caravan and a rack of free weights. We were literally on the dirt, with a few weights. Everything I had to do was about being able to be malleable and physical. Those guys are strong. They can be thrown off a horse, land on the ground, and then get straight back up again.

MediaBlvd> Do you have a trainer?

Hugh> Yeah. It’s funny, even calling him my trainer, because Mike and I have been mates since I was 18. He is actually a fantastic trainer, but it’s really an odd relationship. He’s just the most competitive guy in the world. He’ll say, “I’ll race you to the door.” He’ll be trash-talking me the whole time, saying, “This is pathetic. I’m going to smash you,” and all of that ridiculous, teenage boy behavior.

MediaBlvd> How is it different to train for something like Wolverine?

Hugh> For Wolverine, I had to train with a lot heavier weights, and get my naturally leaner body more bulked up.

MediaBlvd> How was it to do Wolverine with Gavin Hood, and without all of the other X-Men?

Hugh> There was not as much kissing on that. It was fantastic! Gavin Hood is a great director. He’s very strong, and has a great understanding of the journey and the hearts of the characters. These movies are bound by their attention to the characters and the story. All the other stuff, like those powers, are terrific, but it’s not the heart of it. The themes and the characters and the struggles are the heart of it. I did miss Halle Berry, though.