If you were a die-hard comic fan in the late 90s, you might be able to recall how controversial it was that Hugh Jackman was cast as Wolverine. In the X-Men books, Wolverine is a short, hairy fella with an equally diminutive fuse, hence his nom de guerre. However, when it was time for Marvel's merry mutants to hit the big screen, 20th Century Fox decided to cast a tall, handsome fella to play the top dog in the X-Men franchise. Now that we're 23 years deep into Jackman's tenure as the character, it's almost hard to imagine anyone else playing him.
During his time as the Canadian WW2 vet/samurai/berserker, Jackman's body changed significantly. In addition to the drastic shifts in the actor's physique, Jackman has also indicated that playing Wolverine has altered other parts of him forever. According to People, Jackman claims that growling as Wolverine has done a hefty amount of damage to his voice.
The X-Men actor recently revealed on BBC's Front Row that he might have permanently damaged his vocal cords from playing the mutant superhero.
"I've done some damage to my voice with Wolverine," Jackman, 54, admitted. "My falsetto is not as strong as it used to be, and that I directly put down to some of the growling and yelling."
He continued, "My vocal teacher in drama school would've been horrified with some of the things I did [as Wolverine]."
"We learned a technique [in school] of how to shout and how to yell without ruining your voice. However, during Wolverine, I did some screaming and yelling and things that I think did damage to my voice," he explained.
However: "I'm working on it," Jackman said. "I work with a singing teacher and I try not to hurt myself. I put a lot of effort into both physical movement and my vocal preparation for every role."
