When Hugh Jackman Met His Celebrity Crush The Chills Were Multiplying

Tell me about it, stud.

With only X-Men (2000) under his belt and Kate & Leopold (2001) in post-production, a young Hugh Jackman got to work with John Travolta on Swordfish (2001). It was a dream come true for him. At that time, he was a huge fan of Grease (1978), having watched the romantic musical numerous times and memorizing nearly all of the songs.

“So imagine, we did this night shoot, and we were filming a driving scene at 3 in the morning in downtown LA,” Jackman told the Inquirer back in March 2016 interview. “A member of the crew just started going (he sings), ‘Well-a well-a, tell me more, tell me more…’ John Travolta started singing as Danny. Being an Australian, I started singing as Sandy (played by Olivia [Newton-John], who is Aussie) with the crew. The full Grease with John Travolta! So, that is one.

“The next day, John came in and went, ‘Come to my trailer,’” he continued. “I hadn’t been in his trailer. He knew how much I loved Olivia. He invited her to the set. I went inside the trailer—and there was John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John! That was a complete spin out for me.”

Jackman didn’t provide any further details on how his lunch went. But in an interview that was conducted earlier this month, the Logan star revealed that the lunch went poorly because he made the mistake of telling Olivia that she was his celebrity crush and, when he was a student, he had a poster of her that he kissed everyday for an entire year.

“And I had met her and I told her, and don’t ever do that,” Jackman told Magic Radio. “Because I told her…. Okay, I was a little overwhelmed. I was doing a film with John Travolta, and he said, ‘Hey, come in and have some lunch in my trailer.’ So I went in, and as a surprise, because I’d told him about Olivia, Olivia was there. So there is Sandy and Danny from Grease, Okay? Sitting there, and I blurted out the story. And she was like, “Right.” She totally was looking at me like, ‘This is a stalker, this is my worst nightmare.’ And I was like, ‘Why did I say that?’ So when you meet your celebrity crush, don’t tell them.”

In 2029, the mutant population has shrunk significantly and the X-Men have disbanded. Logan, whose power to self-heal is dwindling, has surrendered himself to alcohol and now earns a living as a chauffeur. He takes care of the ailing old Professor X whom he keeps hidden away. One day, a female stranger asks Logan to drive a girl named Laura to the Canadian border. At first he refuses, but the Professor has been waiting for a long time for her to appear. Laura possesses an extraordinary fighting prowess and is in many ways like Wolverine. She is pursued by sinister figures working for a powerful corporation; this is because her DNA contains the secret that connects her to Logan. A relentless pursuit begins … In this third cinematic outing featuring the Marvel comic book character Wolverine we see the superheroes beset by everyday problems. They are ageing, ailing and struggling to survive financially. A decrepit Logan is forced to ask himself if he can or even wants to put his remaining powers to good use. It would appear that in the near-future, the times in which they were able put the world to rights with razor sharp claws and telepathic powers are now over.

Logan stars Hugh Jackman (Logan), Boyd Holbrook (Donald Pierce), Patrick Stewart (Charles Xavier), Dafne Keen (Laura Kinney/X-23), Stephen Merchant (Caliban), Elizabeth Rodriguez (Gabriela), and Richard E. Grant (Dr. Zander Rice).

James Mangold (The Wolverine) directed, based on a screenplay he co-wrote with screenwriters Scott Frank and Michael Green.

Logan is now playing!

MORE: Watch Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine Cameo In Me And Earl And The Dying Girl / That Time Hugh Jackman Made An Unofficial Wolverine Cameo In Night At The Museum 3 / Logan: Where Are All The Mutants? / Did Logan Go Too Far With X-24?

[Embed id=52174]Logan[/Embed]