Hugh Jackman has revealed that he turned down a role in Cats last year.
In a new interview with The Daily Beast, the actor revealed that he was approached by director Tom Hooper to appear in the film but couldn’t due to other commitments. The pair had previously worked together on Les Miserables in 2012.
“Umm…yep” Jackman replied when asked if he had been asked to appear. He added: “You know, Tom rang me early on because we did Les Mis together, and there were a couple of options there based on availability and time, and I…just wasn’t available at the time.”
Following the poor critical reaction to the film upon its release, Jackman was asked if he was relieved to not have appeared in the film. However, Jackman would not criticise the film or Hopper.
“I’m in the theatre, man, and I don’t want to be in the business of bashing people — or jumping on bandwagons.”
He added: “I haven’t seen it, and Tom Hooper’s one of the great filmmakers we have.”
Back in March, Cats won the most Golden Raspberry Awards – also known as the Razzies – which selects the worst films of the year.
The film won six awards in total including worst picture, supporting actor (for James Corden), supporting actress (for Rebel Wilson) and worst screenplay. It also saw Tom Hooper being awarded a worst director gong.
Last year, Hooper revealed that a hugely critical response to the film’s first trailer made him and his team go back to the drawing board and largely remake the film.
Cats starred Taylor Swift, Idris Elba, James Corden, Judi Dench, Jennifer Hudson, Rebel Wilson, Sir Ian McKellen and Jason Derulo – who responded at the time to the negative reception the movie received from critics.
Derulo, who played Rum Tug Tugger, called the re-imagining an “incredible, brave piece of art.” Speaking to TMZ, Derulo said that “reviews don’t matter” and that “people are going to see it” anyway.
