Over twenty years ago, Bryan Singer’s “X-Men” was coming together and the showcase role was that of Wolverine – the clawed hair mutant with regenerating capabilities.
Initially the powers set rising “Deep Impact” and “Ever After” actor Dougray Scott to play the role. However the actor was filming his role as the villain in John Woo’s “Mission: Impossible 2” and just a few weeks before filming on “X-Men” began he reportedly injured his back and was unable to do it.
The “X-Men” production scrambled and ultimately hired a then-unknown Australian actor named Hugh Jackman who turned the role into a mega-successful career. This week though, Scott spoke with The Telegraph whilst out promoting “Sulphur and White” and revealed it wasn’t an injury that took him out of “X-Men” – it was Tom Cruise. Specifically, he says:
“[‘X-Men’] was out of my control. Tom Cruise didn’t let me do it. We were doing ‘Mission Impossible’ and he was like, ‘you’ve got to stay and finish the film’, and I said I will, but I’ll go and do that as well. For whatever reason, he said I couldn’t. He was a very powerful guy. Other people were doing everything to make it work.”
Scott says he has no ill will towards Jackman either: “I love what Hugh did with it. He’s a lovely guy.”
2000’s “X-Men” ended up kicking off a whole franchise which comes to a close next month with Josh Boone’s “The New Mutants”. EW spoke with that film’s screenwriter Knate Lee who confirmed the film will boast a romance between Wolfsbane (Maisie Williams) and Mirage (Blu Hunt) – the first X-Men film that will feature a same-sex love story between two lead characters (“Deadpool” did it with side characters).
Lee says it’s a “beautiful love story…It’s sort of the spine and focus of some of the character-driven stuff in the film”. “The New Mutants” finally arrives on April 3rd, check out a snazzy new TV spot for it below.
