Hugh Jackman bombed his audition for the Benjamin Bratt Miss Congeniality role
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Hugh Jackman probably won't describe April 25th as his perfect date any time soon.
In a Variety cover story, the X-Men star revealed he totally bombed an audition for the role that ultimately went to Benjamin Bratt in Miss Congeniality. The audition was before anyone knew who he was due to his starring turn as Wolverine in the first X-Men movie, and he felt that he went in ill-prepared.
"No one knew 'X-Men' yet," Jackman said. "I was a nobody."Hugh Jackman returning as Wolverine in Deadpool 3 with Ryan Reynolds
It didn't help that neither Jackman nor his agent actually wanted him to appear in the film — they just wanted to use it as a bargaining chip for another movie he had on the table (Someone Like You with Ashley Judd).
Jackman was thrown for a loop when he walked into the audition to find Sandra Bullock there to read with him. He had never read opposite another actor in a casting situation before. "It was the first time I'd tested [with another actor]," Jackman said "I was impressed that she was in there. I didn't expect her to be in there. I'm guessing eight people she tested with."
And Bullock really delivered, only illustrating to Jackman how ill-equipped he was for the audition. "'Holy s---! She's amazing! And so quick and fast. I'm not even vaguely up to speed here,' " he recalled thinking of Bullock. "I was pedaling as fast as I could, but I didn't know the script well enough."
Needless to say, Jackman didn't land the role — and he remembered it as being a particularly embarrassing moment for him. "That's humiliating, when your agent says, 'I don't want you to get this job, but just go get it.' And then you don't get it," Jackman said.
Benjamin Bratt instead portrayed Bullock's FBI handler/love interest, Eric Matthews, but Jackman didn't get too raw a deal. The same year Miss Congeniality hit theaters, so did X-Men, launching both Jackman and Bullock to super-stardom.
Sadly, the two stars have never teamed up in the years since. But Jackman is about to hit the awards circuit with Florian Zeller's The Son, and he recently announced he'll be picking up the claws once more to reprise the role of Wolverine in the third Deadpool film.
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