(Mostly about the actor.)
Hugh Jackman’s recent appearance on this blog (#6 in this posting) was as the fierce Wolverine in the X-Man films — that is, as the product of a severe regimen of diet and free-weight workouts that left him bulked up and frighteningly ripped, quite remarkable but to my mind no longer attractive (though tastes differ in these things). So let me present some other sides of Jackman.
First, an unposed photo of the man in a more typical state of mind, smiling a crinkly-eyed smile. Shirtless, showing off an intermediate stage in his training, with a six-pack:
(#1)
Better, a fine portrait of a serious Jackman, by photographer Nino Muñoz, one of a set done for Australian GQ magazine:
(#1)
Better still, you can watch this YouTube video of Jackman and Neil Patrick Harris dancing and singing together at the opening of the 2011 Tony Awards show.
From Wikipedia:
Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor, singer, and producer. Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as superhero, period, and romance characters. He is best known for his long-running role as Wolverine in the X-Men film series, as well as for his lead roles in the romantic-comedy fantasy Kate & Leopold (2001), the action-horror film Van Helsing (2004), the magic-themed drama The Prestige (2006), the epic historical romantic drama Australia (2008), the sci-fi sports drama Real Steel (2011), the film version of Les Misérables (2012), and the thriller Prisoners (2013).
… Jackman became known outside Australia in 1998, when he played the leading role of Curly in the Royal National Theatre’s acclaimed stage production of Oklahoma!, in London’s West End. … Jackman said “I totally felt like it can’t get any better than this. On some level that production will be one of the highlights of my career.” He also starred in the 1999 film version of the same stage musical, which has been screened in many countries.
… In 1999, Jackman was cast as Wolverine in Bryan Singer’s X-Men (2000), replacing Dougray Scott.
Jackman has great personal charm, and he’s widely known as a genuinely nice guy, not someone playing a nice guy. This persona, his good looks, his physicality (he really does like to dance), his hunky body, and even his height (he is hugely taller than his character Wolverine, which has presented challenges in filming the X-Men movies) have all contributed to his fame as a really sexy man. In 2008 he was named as People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive!” for the year, sandwiched between George Clooney in 2006 (his second time) plus Matt Damon in 2007 and Johnny Depp (his second time) in 2009 plus Ryan Reynolds in 2010.
Note on the “Sexiest Man” awards: they’ve been given out since 1985 (Mel Gibson), roughly one a year, usually to Americans (but there’s Jackman, Scotsman Sean Connery in 1989, Irishman Pierce Brosnan in 2001, Australian Chris Hemsworth in 2014, and Englishman David Beckham this year), almost always to actors (but there’s public figure John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1988, singer Adam Levine in 2013, and footballer Beckham this year), only once to a black man (Denzel Washington in 1996), and never to a Latino or to an openly gay man (when will the incredibly sexy Matt Bomer get the nod? Or Ricky Martin?).
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