Hugh Jackman Discusses "The Prestige"

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Hugh Jackman’s Take on His The Prestige Co-Star Christian Bale: Although he may come off as a very serious man, Bale does have his lighter side. “I would think it’s fair to say, he’s fairly low-key, as is Chris Nolan. Fairly low-key in they're just very relaxed. But Christian, no. He's got a very cheeky sense of humor, and quite naughty, but very relaxed. He's got a baby, I've got a baby, so we had play dates together and hung out.

I admire Christian because he feels no compulsion to be anything other than who he is. It doesn't matter. Ever since Batman, he's become a big sort of star and box office. He's exactly the same kind of actor he always was, which I think is incredibly truthful and very dedicated, and unbelievably fearless. I mean, if you look at what he tackles as an actor, it's kind of extraordinary.”

Action, Comedy, Romance, and Straight Drama: Jackman’s ready and willing to tackle most any genre. “I want to do a bit of everything. I want to open up as many doors as I can, basically. I feel like I’m in a good position now. I feel like I'm probably in a good a position as anyone to audition and get movies made. I'm not saying I'm Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio, but I think I'm fairly blessed (laughing)."

Coming Soon – Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain: “I loved it. I'm incredibly proud of the movie. I'm thrilled that in some of the lead up there's been controversy, because I expect nothing less from a Darren Aronofsky movie. (Laughing) Someone was just saying to me, ‘I heard the movie was booed in Venice.’ Well, the truth was, at that press screening, about 80% of the people gave it a standing ovation, about 20% of the people booed, and a fight began between the press. Two of them had to be pulled apart. And I thought, ‘That's a great story! Why wasn't that story told?’ That's exactly how the movie, I think, will be seen.”

There will be no middle-of-the-road reactions to The Fountain. People will either love it or hate it but Jackman says he’s taken aback by intense, negative reactions. “I'm shocked, actually, that people are passionately against it. But that's fine. I think it's a confronting movie, but I think regardless of what you think of the content, it's visually amazing production-wise. I think it'd be hard to deny that it deserves attention, even if you don't like the subject matter. But hey, that's just me.”

What’s Happening on the X-Men Front? Jackman says there’s no word yet on the possibility of an X-Men 4. “No, but there's a script for Wolverine.” The follow-up question to that response would be is Wolverine going to fight Batman? “I want to say yes, just because it'd be fun to see the reverberations of that, but...”