Jerry Seinfeld Convinced Hugh Jackman To Walk Away From His Biggest Role
Jerry Seinfeld was the one who convinced Hugh Jackman to stop playing Wolverine after Logan.
In one of the oddest stories from some years back, it appears that Jerry Seinfeld was the one that convinced Hugh Jackman to step aside from the role of Wolverine. Based on a past interview on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Jackman told Fallon about the advice he received from Seinfeld. According to Jackman, “He said, ‘Look, when you’re creating something, it’s very important not to run yourself dry…It’s not about finishing on top, necessarily, but making sure that you’re, creatively, still got something left, which propels you into whatever’s next.'”
To be fair, Jerry Seinfeld does have an excellent point, and Hugh Jackman did stop while he was on top. Logan had just been released when the above video had come out, and it was one of the better superhero movies, even pulling in a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination at the Academy Awards. Seinfeld does know a bit about stopping while you are on top, as he starred in arguably the best sitcom ever made.
While Jerry Seinfeld and Hugh Jackman were certainly not in the same genre of show business, they both played the same character for years, and both stopped on their own terms. Seinfeld did play a more fictionalized version of himself in Seinfeld, but the show ended after nine seasons, which is where it should have certainly ended. Had the series gone on for longer, it could have ended with people questioning its legacy.
While Jerry Seinfeld’s run in Seinfeld wasn’t nearly as long, Hugh Jackman had every reason to also stop playing Wolverine, as he had already been doing so for 17 years, according to the above video. Plus, without sounding too mean, those last X-Men movies weren’t the best, and it was time that Jackman got out before they all overstayed their welcome.
Logan was a masterpiece of a superhero movie, and it honored Wolverine in a way that no X-Men movie could have done so. Jerry Seinfeld’s advice could have been the catalyst that also started Hugh Jackman on his return to the role some five years later. We all know that Jackman has agreed to return one final time in Deadpool 3, but had he not stopped after Logan, he could have burned himself on the role and never agreed to appear in the anticipated sequel.
Both Jerry Seinfeld and Hugh Jackman are now on different paths in life, as Seinfeld is still a world-renowned comedian who is also leading the Unfrosted movie, which is the untold story about the creation of the Pop-Tart. Jackman just recently spent some time back on Broadway, as he starred in The Music Man. Now, years after this advice that he shouldn’t burn himself in the role, Jackman took that advice and can presumably and happily return as Wolverine one final time.
What would be hilarious is if Jerry Seinfeld was cast in Deadpool 3 alongside Hugh Jackman, and possibly told a joke to Wolverine about retiring as one of the X-Men. While that is likely to never happen, we are thrilled to finally get to see Jackman return to his most iconic role. There have been plenty of rumors about actors that are next in line to be Wolverine, though none have seemed to pan out yet.
Jerry Seinfeld could even pop in Deadpool 3 as a multiverse version of Wolverine, and stand alongside Hugh Jackman. Ok, we can stop with the wild ideas now, it’s just hilarious to think about Seinfeld of all people was the one to convince Jackman to step away.
