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Taylor Lautner: Should He Play Teen Wolverine in X-Men Movie?

Hugh Jackman weighs in on Twilight star playing a younger version of his trademark superhero role

By Marc Malkin Jul 15, 2010 1:42 PMTags
Hugh Jackman, X-Men, Taylor Lautner, New MoonKerry Hayes/ 20th Century Fox; Kimberley French/Summit Entertainment

If Taylor Lautner was actually going to be in the upcoming X-Men: First Class, would teen wolf Wolverine be the right role for him?

Wolverine star Hugh Jackman thinks so, but…

"My only question is," Jackman told me the other day while promoting his charitybuzz auction to work out with him to benefit New York's Summit School, "can he grow mutton chops?"

Probably not, but we already know the Twilight star has the muscles for the part.

"Actually, I think people would probably prefer him as a hairless Wolverine than a rather hairy-chested version," Jackman added with a laugh. "Certainly about a billion young girls would."

Now let's get back to Jackman's Wolverine. Any chance we'll see him pop up in The Avengers movie? The hirsute mutant did join the comic book band of crimefighters back in 2005.

"I haven't gotten any phone calls yet," the Aussie actor said. "But you never know. He could but you never know if someone else could have been called to play Wolverine."

(For the record, Fox controls the license to Wolverine and the other X-Men characters, so it's unlikely that they'll appear in a movie being produced at rival Paramount.)

Not that Jackman needs the work. He's currently shooting Real Steele and he's hoping to back on Broadway next year. He's developing  couple of musicals (one based on legendary illusionist Houdini) and he recently took part in a reading Stories About McAlary, a Nora Ephron play directed by Mike Nichols about late New York City Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper columnist Mike McAlary.

P.S.: There's still time to bid on that workout session. Best part? Besides raising funds for an incredible school, Jackman told me he'd hit the gym shirtless for $25,000! Auction closes today at 1 p.m. PT.

You want more celeb scoop? Then get yourself over to @marcmalkin on Twitter.
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