JACKMAN TALKS VAN HELSING
FANGORIA caught up with Hugh Jackman over the weekend and chatted about his currently-in-production project, VAN HELSING. Jackman’s hair was a bit shaggier than we’ve seen him lately, hanging almost to his shoulder, so the first question was whether or not that was the length for the movie.
‘It’s actually longer, but I had to put extensions in immediately after doing X2,’ Jackman says. ‘I had to take them out because after three months they start to show, so this is them ‘out.’ It’s considerably longer. Here long [indicates shoulder blade length]. CHARLIE’S ANGELS long.’
Though VAN HELSING isn’t a comic-book movie, Jackman still believes there is some cross-pollination, particularly among the potential audience. ‘It’s not a comic book, but the people who are into comic books [will be] into VAN HELSING, and there are all those monsters,’ Jackman enthuses. ‘It has that same kind of folklore and fanbasepeople who are fans of werewolves, FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA. It’s slightly different than comic books. I loved the script for VAN HELSING, so that’s why I went into that.’
As with X-MEN, Universal is looking for a franchise with VAN HELSING, and Jackman is already signed up for two films. He admits, however, that even though there’s a lot of physicality in the X-MEN movies, VAN HELSING will likely have even more. ‘Probably more physical than [X-MEN 2],’ Jackman estimates. ‘There’s a little bit more action. There’s a lot of horse-riding and wirework where I get lifted up. There are fight sequences on a huge scale. Wolverine is pretty intensethat scene with Kelly Hu took three weeks to shoot and that was hard workbut for me it was essentially on the ground or whacking into a wall. For some of the stuff in VAN HELSING, we’re way up in the sky flying around, so it’s a lot of fun.’
As we’ve already seen in some early bits of art, it appears Van Helsing himself will have some creative weaponry, something Jackman confirms. ‘I’ve got so many weapons in VAN HELSING, I’ve lost count,’ Jackman jokes. ‘I’m almost like one of those watch salesmen. I have this huge overcoat and I [mimes opening the coat up revealing many ‘items’]. It almost becomes a joke by the end. My [sidekick] says, ‘What else do you have in there?’ I pull out this crossbow and this mace and you name itit comes out.’
Though X-MEN and VAN HELSING seem rather unrelatable, Jackman admits there are similarities among the differences. ‘There’s a similarity in the plot on one level because Van Helsing…it’s not simply amnesia like Wolverine’s gone through with the experiments that happened on him,’ says Jackman, choosing his words carefully. ‘Without explaining what happens, I have to leave it at that, but that’s the similarity. The tone of it is very different and he’s got a little more of a glint in the eye, Van Helsing does. Wolverine is a bit more intense.’
With so many locations, VAN HELSING will be shooting on two sides of the world at the same time. ‘I have to be back in Prague on Wednesday,’ Jackman says. ‘They start work [in Los Angeles] tomorrow, but I’ve got to go back and do 2nd unit next week and then I come back here.’
As for other upcoming horrors, Jackman said that he hopes the musical craze will extend for some time as he would really ‘love to do’ Stephen Sondheim’s SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET.
Courtesy of Fangoria
For over 20 years the Horror Asylum has continued to bring you the very best genre news, reviews, giveaways and interviews in the horror world.