Attention Academy: Hugh Jackman says he'd 'love' to return as Oscars host
Aussie icon also says he wanted to look like an animal for 'Wolverine'
Hugh Jackman hosted the 2009 Academy Awards and wouldn't mine returning in 2010 or beyond.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hugh Jackman relied on his Wolverine alter ego to pack on muscle for the "X-Men" role, and he turned to the Oscars to slim back down. The 40-year-old actor trained for a year to achieve his character's look. "My goal was to make him look like an animal," a much leaner Jackman said recently. "I wanted people to be unnerved when they saw him." Among the first to be unnerved? "Australia" director Baz Luhrmann. Jackman was co-starring with Nicole Kidman in the epic love story when he started bulking up for "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." "Baz said, 'Mate, whatever you're eating, can you slow down a bit because I'm going to struggle to edit this together,'" Jackman recalled, adding that there are a few scenes in "Australia" where he's "beefier" than he ought to be. The director had issues with Jackman's size again when the two collaborated on the opening song-and-dance number for the Academy Awards. "Baz was like, 'You've got to lose weight ... You're too bulky,'" Jackman said. Luckily, Jackman discovered the ideal weight-loss plan: "Singing and dancing is the greatest diet in the history of the planet," he said. "Well, that and performing in front of a billion people." Despite the pressures of the Oscar performance, the gregarious actor said he'd take on the hosting task again without hesitation. "I'd do it again if I was asked," Jackman said. "I loved every second of it."
Copyright (2009) Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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