It seems that one of our favourite actors was offered a couple of roles in one of the biggest failures to hit the box office in recent years - and he had the cat-like reflexes to know that 'Cats' was certainly one movie he should avoid at all costs.
Hugh Jackman in 'Cats' might have made the movie that bit more bearable, but to be honest it still would have been catastrophic. Thankfully, the actor had more sense than to say yes to a musical where he would have played a CGI cat with no butthole.
In a recent interview with The Daily Beast, when Jackman was asked if he had turned down a role in 'Cats', his straight-up answer was simply: "Umm… yep."
Prodding ever further, the interviewer asked why, leading Hugh Jackman to say that it was because of his availability (but he's a nice guy, we'd understand if he doesn't want to bad mouth the industry). He said: "You know, Tom [Hooper - the director] rang me early on because we did 'Les Mis' together, and there were a couple of options there based on availability and time, and I really… yeah, I just wasn’t available at the time."
Jackman even made the remark that he hasn't yet watched the movie: "I’m in the theatre, man, and I don’t want to be in the business of bashing people—or jumping on bandwagons. I haven’t seen it, and Tom Hooper’s one of the great filmmakers we have."
Meow. The interviewer also decided to ask Jackman one last time - just in case his stance had changed - if he would ever reprise his role as Wolverine in a future 'X-Men' movie. Spoiler alert - the answer is no.
If the Fox/Disney merger had happened "seven years ago" Jackman might have considered it, but right now that adamantium-filled boat in his life has well and truly sailed. He said: "I knew it was the right time for me to leave the party—not just for me, but for the character. Somebody else will pick it up and run with it. It’s too good of a character not to."
Now we can't stop wondering if Hugh Jackman in 'Cats' might have saved the movie from the dark perils it ended up turning into.
