Hugh Jackman Refutes Steroid Allegations In Fitness Routine For Wolverine Movies

Actor Hugh Jackman is one actor with the power to transform his body for multiple roles, especially for roles as physically demanding as his Wolverine character. Jackman starred as Wolverine for many years and in several movies where he repeatedly pushed himself and his body to both gain and lose large amounts of muscle.

However, he recently denied the rumors that he used steroids to aid his muscle-gaining process, saying he didn't love his job "that much." Jackman said he went the old-school way, which involved a large amount of protein, especially chickens. He also spoke about his six-month fitness plan to prepare his body to play Wolverine again in "Deadpool 3."

Read on to find out more.

During a recent appearance on HBO's Who's Talking to Chris Wallace, Wallace asked Jackman about the rumors that he dabbled in steroids. He said, "Over the years, people have wondered, did he juice? Did he take steroids?" The fan speculation stems from Jackman repeatedly getting ripped to play Wolverine in several 'X-men' movies.

In response, Jackman stated per, "No, I love my job. And I love Wolverine. I got to be careful what I say here, but I had been told anecdotally what the side effects are of that. And I was like, 'I don't love it that much.' So, no, I just did it the old-school way." By old school, the 54-year-old actor meant he consumed a lot of protein, especially poultry.

He said, "And I tell you, I've eaten more chickens — I'm so sorry to all the vegans and vegetarians and to the chickens of the world. Literally, the karma is not good for me. If the deity has anything related to chickens, I'm in trouble."

Jackman temporarily retired from his role as "Wolverine" after the character's death in "Logan" and has kept busy with Broadway. The actor is currently featured in "The Music Man," where his character's body isn't as physically demanding as a Marvel superhero.

Wallace also asked Jackman how he plans to make the physical transition from his broadway character to playing Wolverine again in "Deadpool 3," alongside Ryan Reynolds. The "Greatest Showman" actor then revealed that he'd created a six-month plan to get his body back into its Wolverine figure.

Jackman said per NYP, "I've learned you can't rush it. I've learned that it takes time. So, we have six months from when I finish ['The Music Man'] to when I start filming. And I'm not doing any other work. I'm going to be with my family and train. That's going to be my job for six months. And I'm really fit right now."

The "Prisoners" actor revealed that when he first took on the role of Wolverine, he knew nothing about them and instead focused his research on wolves. He said, "I had never read the comic book. In Australia, we don't have wolverines. I didn't know that was a real animal. I'd never heard of a wolverine. I thought it was a made-up animal."

Jackman said he watched several documentaries about wolves because he "obviously" thought he was playing a wolf. He explained that it wasn't until he went to the set showing off the wolf moves that he'd learned that a director corrected him and explained that he's a wolverine, which is different.

In "The Music Man," Jackman plays the role of Professor Harold Hill, and Sutton Foster stars as Hill's reluctant love interest Marian Paroo. The show was hit by several delays due to COVID-19 and finally opened in 2022. It later expanded its Broadway run until early 2023 due to the high demand for additional performances.

The "positively final performance" of the show will hold on Jan 15th, 2023, instead of its previous end date of New Year's Day. Producer Kate Horton said in a statement, "The hunger of audiences for our show continues unabated. We are grateful to Hugh and Sutton [Foster] and our entire glorious company for agreeing to add these additional 16 performances."