Jackman almost quit making 'X-Men' films

Rex Features

Hugh Jackman has admitted that he almost walked away from the the role of Wolverine.

The actor revealed that he grew frustrated with his character’s progress in the X-Men franchise.

Jackman said that he feared his mutant superhero had gotten too "soft" after X-Men: The Last Stand and considered abandoning the role for future projects.

"It felt like Wolverine had got a little soft by X-Men 3 and I wanted to take it back to that bad ass quality," he is quoted as saying. "He's tough, he's gruff, he's not politically correct - he doesn't say the right things."

Jackman added that the return of his character’s "berserker rage" persuaded him to return for spinoff X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

"There has to be complexity to this character. He's very tough but there's a lot of pain, history to his life that you find out about. It's not pretty," he said.

"He's a flawed character. That's what I like about it, that's why I'm doing it for the fourth time or else I wouldn't."

X-Men Origins: Wolverine opens in UK cinemas on April 29.