Hugh Jackman: Humble Hunk

He sings! He dances! He's an X-Man and now..he's a cowboy! He's also People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive! Is there anything super hot hunk Hugh Jackman can't do? In the new sweeping romantic adventure film Australia, hunky Hugh plays The Drover (doncha just luv the mystery? What's his real name anyway?). "Drover" is one of those men's men who can spend months in the outback driving cattle and kicking butt and then roll into town, put on a white dinner jacket and romance a woman with the flair of a superspy! Whoa!

What is refreshing about Mr. Jackman is that he stays humble and grounded no matter what his accomplishments. Hugh was happy to chat about that famous shirtless shower scene that has women from Sydney to Sri Lanka swooning and reveals how pleased he was to get to kiss a gal tall enough to meet his eyes (Nicole Kidman is 5'10" at least). We discussed how he learned to tame and ride a horse to play Drover and got a tidbit on his upcoming role in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. We wanted to know what Hugh does to train for action roles and just how much he's learned about himself from being a dad. Picture the actor in grey polo shirt that showed off his awesome physique, black slacks and the usual shadow beard... sigh. First things first. How does Hugh feel about being named the Sexiest Man Alive?

TeenHollywood: Congratulations on being named the sexiest man alive by People magazine.

Hugh: Did you get a copy of the magazine?

TeenHollywood: Yep! (We hold it up). We know that George Clooney said he was really behind the campaign for Matt Damon. Who was behind your campaign?

Hugh: I had CM (Catherine Martin, director Baz Luhrmann's wife and Australia's costume and production designer) and Baz on my side. We ran a very strong campaign. I'm not proud of it. I can admit it now. We're the first to run a negative campaign and we've spent years bringing Clooney, Pitt, Damon and McConaughey all down to size. I was prepared to do absolutely anything (laughs. He's totally kidding). My son Oscar is eight and he goes 'You? You've gotta be kidding me!' (laughter) I thought, 'ain't' it the truth!'.

TeenHollywood: He's keeping you honest.

Hugh: Yeah.

TeenHollywood: Filmgoers are really passing the word on your sexy outback shower scene. Was it just funny or weird shooting that? Did you get teased about it?

Hugh: That shower scene, historically, is absolutely accurate. That's exactly the technique (the drovers) used (laughing). I remember saying to Baz, 'are you sure this isn't too much? Are they going to laugh? They're going to think I'm a wanker here'. And he says 'if we're strong and really commit to the moment, the comedy of it will rise'. There were a couple of members of the crew who took their shirts off. After the first little break one, of which oiled himself up a little bit so, trust me, I got a lot of hell about that scene when we were down there. It might have been a lot cooler having my shirt off for the whole movie because it was hard.

TeenHollywood: Yeah, we understand it was over 100 degrees and you came close to passing out?

Hugh: The very first scene we shot was the triumphal return when we bring the cattle to Darwin so it was the end of the drove and I had on what's called a "dry-as-a-bone" which is an all-weather coat. Inside this coat, it goes down to your knees, is a lining, a thick, padded lining. I had a woolen shirt on and leather pants and I almost fainted that first day of filming. Poor CM had designed this coat and I was meant to be wearing it for the whole rest of the movie, the whole drove. Thank goodness she decided to adjust my wardrobe for the rest of it.

TeenHollywood: So, the film almost lost its leading man on the first day. Can you set the scene for us?

Hugh: It was a little bit of my pride and fault to be honest because I was the first day on the horse. As an actor, you don't want to be ponceing about with the umbrella above your head and 'go find my Evian (water)' and all that so I sat on the horse and the First A.D said 'Baz will be ready in about five minutes' and 'Nah, man I'm fine. I'll stay on the horse' and about a half hour later, 'listen, it might be another five'. 'No problem'. After about half an hour, I felt this hand on my back and I said, 'what are you doin' mate?' 'I'm fine' and he says 'no you're not. You're at a 45 degree angle to the horse.' He was holding me up. I said, 'I might need ten minutes and CM, can I talk to you about this coat?'

TeenHollywood: What is your background with your leading lady Nicole? You are friends, right?

Hugh: I've known Nicole for a long time. When she first came to Hollywood, she lived with my wife (Deborra-Lee Furness) until she lived with Tom (Cruise). They were very close friends and still are but, it wasn't until this film that we truly got to know each other and become, sort of independent of my wife really, friends.

TeenHollywood: Can you talk about working with her?

Hugh: Nicole is an amazing person to work with. She has a very mercurial quality and, in the best sense of the word, there's a kind of danger about Nicole. No matter how much you know her, there's always going to be something surprising. There's always going to be something a little unpredictable (that will) keep you on your toes. She's also very generous, incredibly hard-working and a very funny actor.

TeenHollywood: Is it easy to kiss a friend or is it a little tougher when you have to do the romantic scenes with her?

Hugh: Baz quite likes sunsets and kissing so we ended up kissing quite a lot (he laughs). It's not the toughest day at the office but it's never particularly comfortable making out with someone in front of seventy people. That's not really something that turns me on. I know it does for some (laughter) but, in terms of the intimacy, Nic and I talked about it separately from Baz. We said, 'okay. We really need to take this seriously. We need to really portray this romance and the passion and the heat between the two and even though we know each other'. That's the biggest trap, really for actors. Sometimes you can know someone too well and all the heat goes out of the room and you're too familiar. It was a really kind of adult and very open discussion.

TeenHollywood: Gotta ask. How did your wife Deb feel about it?

Hugh: Thankfully, when I saw the movie for the first time, my wife is next to me and after that very first kiss, and it's quite a lingering, slow kiss, Deb leans over to me and goes (in a breathless tone) 'that was great!' (we laugh). So, if your wife can give you the thumbs up, I thought, 'we're on the right track'. The other thing I should mention about the kiss is that it's really amazing for me to kiss someone where I don't have to have my shoes off, or be in a ditch, or the other actor is on a box, which is not sexy. It was really lovely. I think Nic said the same thing. She said, 'I get to look up'.

TeenHollywood: Were there longer takes for the kiss?

Hugh: (big smile) I don't kiss and tell. [Laughs]

TeenHollywood: Okay, on to something more serious. Nicole says that having kids has helped her learn so much about herself. Do you feel that you've learned some things from having children?

Hugh: Oh, yeah. It makes you learn about yourself. I think it also makes you learn about your own parents because my wife quite often says 'oh, hello Chris', that's my dad's name, because things come out of my mouth that sound exactly like my dad that I swore on my life I would never say. The most annoying things. It's sort of bizarre. Yes, you learn about yourself. You learn how you want to parent and your marriage goes to a whole other level. You not only fall in love with your wife in a whole different way but you're also forced to kind of pull together your own philosophies about parenthood even though you may have grown up in a completely different environment and somehow, you've got to become this united front. Children are just the most pure reflection of the truth at any given moment.

TeenHollywood: Drover is quite a horseman. Looks great on a horse. Did you feel a responsibility to embody that for your character?

Hugh: Actors lie about horse riding. That's the old joke. (Filmmakers) ask, 'Can you ride a horse?' so you say, 'Oh, absolutely! Since I was a kid.' But, this was something where the characters name was The Drover. If the movie was made here, you'd call him The Cowboy. They're defined by where they are and what they do. For me, when I watch a great rider or a great skier, there's something beautiful about watching them. In a way, (cowboys) are more themselves and more at home, on that horse than anywhere else. The key was timing this out. Yes, we did everything, from jumping to cutting cattle, or whatever it was. All those different things were really a by-product of just feeling at home.

TeenHollywood: How did you develop the relationship with your horse, beyond just time in the saddle?

Hugh: To be clear, there were four main horses that I worked with. When you work on a film, they're required to do different things. There's not really one horse that can do all of that. So, one horse is for rearing, and one horse is almost stoned, in personality, because when things are blowing up, you need a horse that can actually just stand there, but that kind of horse is not going to be able to do a stampede and chase. So, the main horse that we did the work with, who did the laying down and all of that, I spent a lot of time with.

TeenHollywood: How do you just hang out with a horse?

Hugh: It started with bareback riding. The only way you can really develop a relationship of trust with a horse is to not put a saddle on it because horses can sense it. I learned a lot about parenting from riding a horse. It's the same thing. You can whack a horse. I've seen people do it. They whack them and they kick them, and you can get a horse to do something. But, I was very lucky to have two trainers who taught me how to make the horse feel it's their idea. I'll tell you, as a parent, that is the greatest thing I've ever learned. [Laughs]

TeenHollywood: So you used a little psychology to gain your horse Buddy's trust?

Hugh: For days, you have to go wherever they want to go. If they want to ride up a hill or jump over a fence, you just go with them and say, 'It's okay. Whatever you want to do, I'm there.' And then, just very gradually, you make little suggestions like, 'How about we climb down here?,' or 'How about leading off with this hind leg here? And, now, let's switch and lead off this side.' And, the horse kind of wants to do it. When you have that, it's exhilarating.

TeenHollywood: When you have a physical role like this, what do you do specifically to train?

Hugh: I go to the gym in the morning, as much for a state of mind as a physical state. In terms of physicality and what you eat, it's very important because you have to understand that what we know as a protein diet is pretty much what these drovers lived on. When they were out there, they would not eat a lot. They were lean, but they were very strong and muscle-y. When you wake up, you've got to have some food in your belly, the night before you work.

TeenHollywood: What did you do to stay in shape way out on outback locations?

Hugh: I had a caravan (trailer) and a rack of free weights. We were literally on the dirt, with a few weights. But, it was pretty much all body stuff. Everything I had to do was about being able to be malleable and physical. Those guys are strong. They can be thrown off a horse, land on the ground, and then get straight back up again.

TeenHollywood: Do you have a regular trainer?

Hugh: Yeah. Mike and I have been mates since I was 18. He is actually a fantastic trainer. He's just the most competitive guy in the world. He'll say, 'I'll race you to the door.' He'll be trash-talking me the whole time, saying, 'This is pathetic. I'm going to smash you,' and all of that ridiculous, teenage boy behavior. That's what we turn into.

TeenHollywood: How was it to do Wolverine with director Gavin Hood, and without all of the other X-Men?

Hugh: There was not as much kissing (in that one) (he laughs). It was fantastic. Gavin Hood is a great director. He's very strong, and has a great understanding of the journey and the hearts of the characters. These movies are bound by their attention to the characters and the story. All the other stuff, like those powers and all that stuff that's terrific, but it's not at the heart of it. It's the themes and its characters and the struggles. I did miss Halle Berry, though (we laugh).

TeenHollywood: Why will audiences enjoy Australia?

Hugh: It's a movie that is a feast. It has high comedy, has high tragedy, it has romance, swashbuckling moments. It has action and adventure. It has everything.