HUGH JACKMAN ‘POLITICS IS BRUTAL’
THE ACTOR TALKS HIS NEW FILM THE FRONT RUNNER AND WHY HE WOULDN’T GO INTO POLITICS
At was the 1980s political scandal that rocked the White House. Gary Hart was poised to become the next President of the United States – until damning allegations of an extramarital affair saw him fall from grace. Now, Hugh Jackman is taking on the role of the disgraced politician in Jason Reitman’s biographical drama, The Front Runner.
While Hugh is no stranger to being in the public eye, he admits that he would never want to be scrutinised as intensely as politicians.
“It’s a very different lens that actors get looked under. It’s far more brutal in politics. Someone who is going to be the leader of the free world, we do want to know what they’re like,” he told Entertainment Studios.
“I don’t think I would have a thick enough skin to go through what they go through.”
Being from Australia, Hugh admitted that before taking on the role, he knew very little of Gary. So, in order to play the politician convincingly, Hugh stayed with Gary and his wife Lee for a week so that he could study the man he was portraying.
“I wanted to meet him mainly because I wanted to look him in the eye and say, ‘I’m taking this really seriously, and I know you’re a family man who’s intensely private, and I can’t imagine how hard it is for all this to come up again,’” he told Variety.
Luckily, Gary was thrilled the actor was playing him.
“That first night we had whisky and cigars,” Hugh shared. “We’re friends to this day.”