Hugh Jackman drew inspiration for his portrayal of Wolverine in the X-Men films from Robert De Niro’s character in Cape Fear.

The face and physique of Grammy Award-winning actor Hugh Jackman immediately springs to mind when one thinks of the iconic Wolverine character in the X-Men films. Only he could play his breakthrough role, which earned him the Guinness World Records title of ‘longest career as a live-action Marvel character’ until it was surpassed last year by Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier.

In other words, Jackman’s portrayal of Wolverine is undoubtedly one of the all-time greats when it comes to classical superhero roles. Unbeknownst to many, though, he drew inspiration for his iconic role from an unexpected place: none other than the terrifying character played by Robert De Niro in Cape Fear.

Although De Niro’s Max Cady and Wolverine appear to be very different characters, a closer look reveals that they are strikingly similar in terms of intensity and cunning. Seeing this similarity, Jackman set out to give Wolverine the same raw intensity that De Niro had so brilliantly captured in Cape Fear.
Hugh Jackman as Wolverine

Robert De Niro Was Hugh Jackman’s inspiration for Playing Wolverine in the X-Men Films

As a highly regarded actor, Robert De Niro, 80, is widely known, and his groundbreaking portrayal of Max Cady in Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear redefined expectations. Even though there are a lot of scenes that stick in your mind, De Niro’s portrayal of Cady is most known for his stunning looks. The actor portrayed a convicted r*pist who wants to exact revenge on the former public defender.
Robert De Niro in Cape Fear
Jackman, who is just as committed to his roles, channeled the volatile nature of Wolverine by using De Niro’s acting techniques in the 1991 psychological thriller film. In an interview with Empire during the filming of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the Australia actor expressed his desire for a more vicious appearance akin to that of De Niro’s Max Cady:
“I had this image in my head of De Niro in that remake of Cape Fear. You were terrified of that character from the moment he took his shirt off and you saw all the tats; you know he was this coiled spring that would rip your head off, no matter how nonchalant he acted. That’s who Wolverine is. I always thought of him as being lean, animalistic, not necessarily pretty. He has all this berserkery, and he’s terrifying when he loses all reason in blind rage.”
Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in X-Men

Hugh Jackman Researched Wolves For His X-Men Role 

During his appearance as a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Hugh Jackman disclosed that he was somewhat perplexed when he was initially cast as Wolverine. The actor told Stephen Colbert that at first he had never heard of an animal called Wolverine and assumed the name was a made-up comic book character:
“Embarrassingly, I didn’t know what a Wolverine was. I had never heard of such an animal, and I presumed it was a made up name for the comic book….I presumed it was a wolf and I did study wolves. I watched some documentaries. There was a big IMAX movie at the time. I went twice to go and see it.”
He then discussed his preparation for the renowned role. He showed up on set for a fight rehearsal and truly put in the time. Jackman said he was working on the wolves when the director asked what he was doing. The latter was taken aback when he discovered that the actor had no idea who the Wolverines were:
“I put in the hours and I turned up on set for a fight rehearsal.. And the director goes, ‘Hey, what are you doing there with the body?’ And I said, ‘I was thinking, I was doing some work on the wolves’, and he goes, ‘Wolves?! Why wolves? You’re playing the Wolverine.’ And I go, ‘Well, that’s not an animal.’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, it is. Go to the zoo.’ It was a humiliating moment and three weeks of wasted research.”
Hugh Jackman as Wolverine
The X-Men film series has garnered positive reviews from several critics. Having amassed over $6 billion in global box office revenue from thirteen films, the X-Men film series stands as the ninth highest-grossing film franchise.

The thirteenth film, The New Mutants (2020), is available on Disney Plus.