Hugh Jackman has had an illustrious career in Hollywood. From playing the adamantium-clawed superhero Wolverine to the great American showman P.T. Barnum, the star has repeatedly proven his acting mettle. Moreover, The Greatest Showman actor’s co-stars often sing his praises.
However, there was a time when the Aussie hunk left one of his co-stars quivering in fear when he went off-script and did something extreme. While filming 2013’s Prisoners, Jackman pulled off an ad-lib that left his co-actor Paul Dano completely shaken.
Paul Dano’s Harrowing Experience While Filming With Hugh Jackman
Director Denis Villeneuve, who has been enjoying the box office success of his Dune: Part Two, also made 2013’s Prisoners starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, Maria Bello, and more. Although the film isn’t as popular as some of Villeneuve’s other works like the Dune series and Blade Runner 2049, many fans thought that Hugh Jackman’s performance in the film was Oscar-worthy.
However, The Batman actor, Paul Dano, had a scary experience while filming a Prisoners scene with Jackman. The latter revisited the on-set experience during his December 2022 interview with SiriusXM.
The Wolverine actor recalls the intense scene in the film wherein he is interrogating Dano’s character. He reveals being completely exhausted from having to reshoot the scene for long hours, but director Villeneuve still wasn’t satisfied with it.
The 55-year-old actor says,
““There’s a really intense scene with Paul Dano where I’m interrogating him, and we’d been doing it for about three hours and I was absolutely exhausted. We’d done this take and deep down I was like, ‘Yeah, we crushed it, that was it.’ And I remember Denis coming over and [he says], ‘I need to talk to you… I need you to go there.'”
While the Aussie actor was already giving it his best, his efforts weren’t matching the director’s expectations. Jackman recalls,
“So we did another take, and as he was rolling film, I was like, ‘I’ve got nothing left! I’ve absolutely no idea!”
However, the Golden Globe winner did not have more to give to the bathroom interrogation scene. He went completely off the script and hit the hammer he held in the scene to a wall, right next to where Paul Dano stood. Thanks to Jackman’s unexpected ad-libbing, the Dumb Money star fell to the ground in utter fear.
The Les Misérables star was also surprised how his co-star held no grudges against him. He said,
“And how Paul Dano has ever spoken to me again, I have no idea!”
But Paul Dano only has good things to say about Jackman. On another note, the Hollywood hunk also had a bizarre experience with Rebecca Ferguson while filming the sci-fi thriller Reminiscence.
Paul Dano only feels respect for his Prisoners co-star
While discussing the film with Metro US, the actor had only kind things to say about Jackman. He also said that he trusted his co-stars and director Villeneuve. He said,
“Hugh is such a kind man, he’s such a good man. Trust is one of the biggest things, no matter what kind of film you’re making. We trusted each other and our director. Safety allows us to be more dangerous.”
He then revisited the bathroom interrogation scene explaining how the broken sink was planned but the hammer being thrusted into the wall wasn’t. He said,
“There’s a part where Hugh puts a hammer in the wall right next to my head, after he destroyed a sink. The sink was planned, and we had done the scene a few times. On one take Hugh put the hammer next to my head, totally unplanned. And then my character fainted. That was a great moment that just happened.”
The 2013 film was re-released on Netflix in 2023 and quickly climbed the number 1 spot.
Prisoners (2013) is available to stream on FilmBox+, and for rent on Apple TV.
