Viggo Mortensen says he turned down Wolverine in X-Men because of ‘the commitment of endless movies’

Viggo Mortensen says he turned down the Wolverine role in X-Men because of ‘the commitment of endless movies’… before being saddled with three epic Lord of the Rings films

It appears that the iconic character of Wolverine from the X-Men films was almost played by an actor OTHER than Hugh Jackman.

Viggo Mortensen visited the Happy Sad Confused podcast last week, during which he discussed almost being cast in the role, and the meeting he had with since-disgraced filmmaker Bryan Singer.

The Eastern Promises star, 62, explained that what initially put him off was the prospect of portraying the ‘same character over and over’ in many franchise films.

Almost Logan: Viggo Mortensen recently discussed almost being cast in the role of Wolverine, and the meeting he had with X-Men filmmaker Bryan Singer; seen here last October

‘The thing that bothered me at the time was just the commitment of endless movies of that same character over and over,’ Viggo said on the podcast with Josh Horowitz. ‘I was nervous about that.’ 

The Oscar nominee also said that he kept his son Henry – then in his early teens – very involved in his decision-making process around the film, as Henry was a big fan of the X-Men comic books. 

‘There were some things, I mean they straightened most of them out, but I did take Henry to the meeting I had with the director [Singer] as my sort of good luck charm and guide,’ Mortensen explained.

'The thing that bothered me at the time was just the commitment of endless movies of that same character over and over,' Viggo said of the role that eventually went to Hugh Jackman

‘The thing that bothered me at the time was just the commitment of endless movies of that same character over and over,’ Viggo said of the role that eventually went to Hugh Jackman

But it seemed that luck was not on Wolverine’s side.     

‘I did let Henry read the script and he goes, “This is wrong. That’s not how it is.”‘ 

‘And he goes, “Yeah, but he doesn’t look like this.” And all of a sudden the director is falling all over himself and then the rest of the meeting was him explaining in detail to Henry why he was taking certain liberties [with Wolverine’s appearance],’ Viggo added. 

Seen in 2019: The Oscar nominee also said that he kept his son Henry – then in his early teens – very involved in his decision-making process, as Henry was a big fan of the X-Men comic books

Seen in 2019: The Oscar nominee also said that he kept his son Henry – then in his early teens – very involved in his decision-making process, as Henry was a big fan of the X-Men comic books

‘We walked out of there, and Henry asks if [the filmmakers] will change the things he told him about, and I say, “I don’t think so. I’m not going to do it anyway, because I’m not sure I want to be doing this for years,”‘ the History Of Violence star continued. 

‘And then a couple of years later I’m doing three Lord of the Rings, so who knows,’ he concluded ruefully. 

Viggo, of course, went on to portray warrior Aragorn in the Lord Of The Rings films over the years of 1999 until 2003.

Jackman, now 52, would go on to land the role of fast-healing mutant superhero Wolverine, in seven films over a seventeen-year span from 2000 to 2017. 

Multiple movies still happened: Viggo, of course, went on to portray warrior Aragorn in the Lord Of The Rings films over the years of 1999 until 2003

Multiple movies still happened: Viggo, of course, went on to portray warrior Aragorn in the Lord Of The Rings films over the years of 1999 until 2003

Claws: Jackman would go on to land the role of fast-healing mutant superhero Wolverine, in seven films over a 17-year span from 2000 to 2017; seen in 2006's X-men: The Last Stand

Claws: Jackman would go on to land the role of fast-healing mutant superhero Wolverine, in seven films over a 17-year span from 2000 to 2017; seen in 2006’s X-men: The Last Stand