Hugh Jackman isn't perfect. Recently crowned People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive, the Australian actor may sport a famous set of abs and the face of a classic movie star, but he has his flaws. "The truth is," he practically whispers, "I have no earlobes." It's true. If you look closely, the bottom of his ears are all but nonexistent. Of course, when Jackman is on screen, people generally aren't staring at the side of his head.

His good looks may seem to have destined him for movie stardom, but he'll be the first to tell you his career is a bit of an accident. He didn't intend to get into musical theatre, yet right out of college he landed the part of the arrogant Gaston in "Beauty and the Beast," followed by a starring role in "Sunset Boulevard," both in Australia, before heading to London's West End, where he earned raves as Curly in the Royal National Theatre's production of "Oklahoma!."

TV and film offers followed, but Jackman's breakthrough role also came by chance. Scottish actor Dougray Scott was originally cast as Wolverine in 2000's "X-Men," the big-screen adaptation of the comic book about a group of mutants with superpowers, but had to drop out due to filming commitments on "Mission: Impossible II." Jackman stepped into the role, creating a Wolverine who is masculine and gruff but with a wink of humor and a surprising tenderness, and a star was born.

Jackman's subsequent film career found him searching for another part that would showcase his talents. In 2001 he appeared in the thriller "Swordfish" and the romantic comedy "Someone Like You," each a mediocre entry in its genre in which Jackman is nonetheless compelling. That year also saw "Kate & Leopold," in which he gives an outstanding performance as a 19th-century English baron transported to modern New York. Though it wasn't a huge success, the film confirmed that his status as leading man was no fluke and earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

After shooting the big-budget silliness of "Van Helsing," Jackman returned to the stage, winning a Tony Award for his turn as entertainer Peter Allen in "The Boy From Oz." Even critics who didn't care for the show had nothing but raves for the actor, who belted tunes, danced with flair, and underwent several flamboyant costume changes. His performance prompted screenwriter William Goldman to proclaim in Variety, "I have gone to the theatre for 60-some years. And, yes, I was there for Brando in 47 in Streetcar.' I was there for Merman in the legendary gypsy run-through of Gypsy.' But nothing prepared me for Hugh Jackman."

Aside from return outings in the "X-Men" films, Jackman began to seek out more-challenging projects with some of today's most interesting directors. He worked with Woody Allen in "Scoop," in which he had the opportunity to hint at a darker side beneath his natural charm. He took on what he still considers his most challenging role, as three separate characters in Darren Aronofsky's love-it-or-hate-it head trip "The Fountain." And then there was Christopher Nolan's "The Prestige," a Victorian-era tale of dueling magicians, in which Jackman got to play showman Robert Angier and the drunken look-alike Angier employs as his double.

His latest role was also unplanned. In Baz Luhrmann's sweeping epic "Australia" - a throwback to the old-fashioned storytelling of Hollywood's Golden Age - Jackman gets to ride horses, romance Nicole Kidman, and essentially be the complete movie star he was meant to be. Though he was always going to be involved in the film, he stepped into the lead only after Russell Crowe dropped out. And whether roping cattle or sporting a tuxedo, Jackman looks completely at home.

Back Stage: I read somewhere that you originally grew up wanting to be a journalist. Which is ironic, because I grew up wanting to be Wolverine.

Hugh Jackman: It's never too late! I did major in journalism, but it was the radio journalism I really loved. They actually had their own radio station at my school, so you were producing shows and doing stuff. I did current affairs. Very serious stuff. I remember thinking one day how great it would be to travel the world as a stringer and just file reports from wherever I go. And radio was the best, because with TV you have to take a sound- and cameraman, so there's a minimum of three of you. I didn't want to have to travel with two other blokes. I wanted to go out on my own and take my own recorder and splice my tapes together by hand. It was all very romantic.

Back Stage: Instead, you got into theatre. What do you consider your first big break into the industry?

Jackman: I loved doing "Oklahoma!." It was an amazing time. I'll never forget the rehearsal process. Susan Stroman was choreographing, and her husband at the time, Mike, was dying of leukemia. So she was flying back every weekend on the Concorde. Trevor Nunn's mother was dying as we were rehearsing. He was driving two hours every day up to Ipswich and back. The atmosphere was thick. Yet for that particular rehearsal period, which was probably three weeks, the job kind of saved them. They invested everything into it. The two of them just came together, and I remember thinking these two geniuses were having to funnel all their attention into this and amazing things would happen.

Back Stage: When did you realize it was clicking with audiences as well?

Jackman: On opening night, I remember the guy announcing, "Never in the history of the National Theatre have we had a queue going all the way back to Waterloo Bridge." And I thought, "What are the chances - my first show overseas? It already feels like we're part of a hit, even before we've opened." It was an amazing time: the show, the people, walking home across Waterloo Bridge across the Thames, leaving the National Theatre behind, where I'd been so many times as a kid watching shows. It was unforgettable. And in terms of my dreams as an actor, that was it. That's all I ever wanted. My mum grew up in England, so I came to London a lot, and she always took me to the theatre. As a student I would go there and stand in line for tickets at the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was as far as my dream could go.

Back Stage: Was your plan always to transition into movies?

Jackman: No. Not at all.

Back Stage: So who forced you into a successful film career?

Jackman: When "Oklahoma!" happened, my agent said, "Do you want to go over to L.A. and give it a shot?" I was trained to say yes. That's what actors do. "Yep. Sure. Whatever." "Can you ride a horse?" "Of course. Anything!" That's probably my personality, but it's also an actor thing.

So I went over, it was CAA, and I remember they were like, "So you're going to stay for a few months?" And I was like, "No, no, I'll come here every now and again." I never really thought of just staying and hanging out, waiting for a film. I guess it was the most foreign idea in the world to me. I was like, "No, I have a theatre show back home. But when I'm done, I'll come and visit for a week." They were like, "A week? What?" My thing was: Always have a return ticket. I even say that to people now. The one-way, open-ended ticket to L.A. is fantastic; I understand it. It's laying all your chips on the table. But for me, it's not really a positive frame of mind. It's better to say, "I'm here, would love to get a job, can't wait, but I've got a job back there, so I'm going back to do something." You should always be proactive.

Back Stage: You got your first film lead in "X-Men" when Dougray Scott had to drop out of the role. Have you ever thanked him?

Jackman: I've talked to him. Just before I started filming, I had a gig in Australia opening the Fox Studios. They were filming "Mission: Impossible II" down there. It was a big grand opening, and I hosted it and sang a duet with Shirley Jones. And it was this weird thing because I had these muttonchops - I was in rehearsals for "X-Men." Everyone was around; they had us in this press line and were introducing us one by one. For whatever reason, Charlie Sheen was there, Cate Blanchett was there, and then I heard, "Dougray Scott." I poked my head out down the line and this is exactly what he did: He stepped out and waved to the crowd, then he turned and looked right at me and nodded and waved. I was like, "Hey...." 1/8Jackman waves sheepishly. 3/8 I felt bad; the poor guy was stuck on a film and missed this unbelievable role. But he came straight up to me and goes, "Hey, man, it's an unbelievable script. It's a great role. Go and kick ass." I said, "I feel kind of bad. I feel like I want to apologize even though it wasn't really any of my doing." He said, "Don't you ever apologize. This is just business. You go and get them." I thought, "What a cool guy."

Back Stage: I guess if it hadn't been "X-Men," it would have been something else, but do you ever think about how things could have worked out so differently?

Jackman: You never know. You really don't. And we didn't know, with "X-Men," that it would be a hit. The temperature around town was, "You better get another job before this comes out." I actually had an offer I was not really into, and someone - not my agent - said, "Take it. Just take it. Trust me: I have a feeling X-Men' is going to tank."

Back Stage: Why were people so negative about its chances?

Jackman: Well, comic book movies were cold as ice, and no one really knew what this was. I was going for auditions, and it wasn't like people were going, "Oh, you play Wolverine." Nobody really knew anything about it. I mean, it was this weird thing - I had claws. No one was really paying attention. I think it shocked everybody. It was sort of at the beginning of the Internet as well. They didn't do a campaign necessarily, but it was that fan base that came out on that first weekend. That was the first inkling of the power of the Internet and just how many of these fans there were. I remember they were tracking, and I said, "What are we going to get?" And they said, "It's looking like $20 million, maybe $25 million." And it opened at $54 million. And I know that they were not expecting that. They like to pride themselves on being close by 10 percent. This was 100 percent difference.

Back Stage: I'm trying to word this so it doesn't sound like a backhanded compliment -

Jackman: 1/8Laughing 3/8 Uh-oh.

Back Stage: You've mentioned before wanting to play some great character roles. Have you ever been frustrated by roles you weren't able to get because you were too much of a leading-man type? Have your good looks ever cost you parts?

Jackman: Yeah, I think probably it has sometimes. Sometimes I've wanted to play roles and been told, "No, that's more of a character role." And I'm like, "But that's acting, isn't it?" Thankfully, there's people like Chris Nolan, who, when I did "The Prestige," let me put on a fake nose and earlobes and almost invisible fake teeth. I loved that.

Back Stage: Did you know that to this day, there are people who insist that part is played by another actor, not you?

Jackman: Stop! Nothing thrills me more than to hear that. Kenny Myers, the makeup guy, designed it. And people on the film couldn't work out what was so different about me. Chris called over the D.P., Wally 1/8Pfister 3/8, and he came up and stared at me. Chris said, "Wally, come here; something's different about Hugh." He kept staring at me. "Your eyes? Do you have contacts in?" He couldn't tell. Yet it was so subtle. I have no earlobes, so he put big earlobes on me. And veneers on just two teeth. Chris actually let me create that character. I said, "I want to play him as a very frustrated, secretly gay actor who totally thinks he should be the lead, but he's an alcoholic who's ruined his life." And he just totally let me go; it was brilliant. And I thank him for the opportunity.

Back Stage: Even going back to your first musical, "Beauty and the Beast," you were cast as Gaston instead of the Beast.

Jackman: Yeah, sometimes it gets annoying. I know there's a perception by some people that I'm just a pretty face. But the reason I didn't get the Beast is I couldn't sing it at the time. Now I think I could. I was the only actor in the history of the world to have a part and in his contract say, "You must have a singing lesson, which we will pay for, every week." I was kind of given the part on how much I had improved. I had never sung before the audition. But they saw enough improvement between the first and second audition to think, "With his trajectory, he'll be okay."

Back Stage: Wait, you had never sung before landing a professional job in a musical?

Jackman: At my drama school, there was an acting school and a musical theatre school. I was in the acting school. And all the musical theatre guys were so pissed off when I got that part: "Man, we spent three years in musical theatre." I was like, "Sorry."

Back Stage: Didn't Baz Luhrmann also originally cast you in the more character role of Fletcher, now played by David Wenham?

Jackman: It's not specific like that, because the way Baz works, it's hard to describe. When you first talk to him, Russell was involved with the movie. Fletcher hadn't really been fleshed out. He said, "I have an idea for you in the movie." And I can see some similarities in the final character. But he never said the word Fletcher to me; he just knew he wanted me to be part of it, and I said, "I want to be part of it." It's that sort of fluid with Baz. Then when Russell didn't happen, I got that role. And as we learned with Wolverine, I'm really good at coming off the bench.