Hugh Jackman has revealed that the X-Men movie franchise as we know it could have looked very different after he was nearly fired from production on his first film.

The actor shared the revelation on Monday night (June 3) during the latest date on his tour, confessing that the role that would become his big break was almost taken away from him while filming 2000's X-Men.

"I was told that things weren't really working out as they hoped," Jackman told the crowd (via The Daily Mail).

"I was about to get fired from my first Hollywood movie – the biggest of my career."



Related: X-Men producer teases the next Wolverine

He continued: "I was angry, I went home to my wife and I complained. I was whinging an Olympic level of whinging to Deb, my wife, and moaning about this person and that person.

"She listened to me very patiently for about an hour and finally she just said, 'Listen, I think you have just got to trust yourself. You are worrying way too much about what everything else is thinking. Just go back to the character, focus on that, trust your instinct... you've got this'.

"To me that was love," he added. "Someone that believes in you when you don't fully believe in yourself. This show is dedicated to Deb and the kids."

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Of course, Jackman went on to play Wolverine for 13 years, before retiring from the role in 2017 with his swan song Logan, so things definitely worked out after all.

Hugh Jackman and his wife, Australian actress and producer Deborra-Lee Furness, have been married for 23 years now and have two children – Oscar and Ava.

Speaking about the secret behind his long and successful marriage, Jackman added: "I've got pretty good at saying no. You don't stay married for 23 years, without learning to say no."

X-Men: Dark Phoenix is out on Wednesday, June 5 in the UK and Friday, June 7 in the US.

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