There’s way less tolerance for disrespectful behaviour on sets, says Hugh Jackman

London, Jan 6 (PTI) Australian star Hugh Jackman was relatively unknown when he was offered the chance to play Wolverine in the first “X-Men” in Hollywood and the actor says there is a lot to be proud about these movies despite the allegations surrounding its director and producer Bryan Singer’s misbehaviour.

Singer has been accused of sexual misconduct, which he has denied. Actors like Halle Berry and Jennifer Lawrence, who starred in the movies, have spoken about how difficult it was to work with the director on the franchise, consisting of 13 films.

In an interview with The Guardian, the actor, who is currently promoting his latest film “The Son”, was asked whether the allegations had tainted the way he looked back at these movies.

“You know, that’s a really, really complicated question.”

“There’s a lot of things at stake there. ‘X-Men’ was the turning point, I believe, in terms of comic-book movies and I think there’s a lot to be proud of. And there’s certainly questions to be asked and I think they should be asked. But I guess I don’t know how to elegantly answer that. I think it’s complex and ultimately I look back with pride at what we’ve achieved and what momentum that started,” Jackman said.

Asked whether his experience was similar to what others faced at the time, the actor said he was relatively new to Hollywood but things have changed for the better in recent years.

“This was my first movie in America, you gotta understand; it was all so new to me. I think it’s fair to say that… There are some stories, you know… I think there are some ways of being on set that would not happen now. And I think that things have changed for the better.

“There’s way less tolerance for disrespectful, marginalising, bullying, any oppressive behaviour. There’s zero tolerance for it now and people will speak out, and I think that’s great,” he added.

Jackman, 54, had decided to retire as Wolverine after 2017 classic hit “Logan”, where his character was killed off.

But earlier this year, he announced that he would be returning to the role in “Deadpool 3”, starring his close friend Ryan Reynolds.

Reynolds was quite persistent in convincing Jackman to revive the character.

The Hollywood star said he was “OK” with letting go of his career-defining role.

“I wasn’t tortured by it. When people would ask me (to reprise the role) including Ryan, every five seconds, I was like: I’m done.”

The actor said he decided to reprise his role as he knew he would have fun doing a Deadpool movie.

“I just wanted to do it and I felt it in my gut. Plus, I get to punch the s*** out of Ryan Reynolds every day,” he added.