Hugh Jackman Explains How Jerry Seinfeld Helped Him Leave Wolverine Role
The actor is finally saying goodbye to his action role.
— -- It's true: After the next Wolverine movie, Hugh Jackman will be hanging up his claws for good.
The Oscar-nominated actor, who has portrayed Wolverine on the big screen for the last 17 years, said his friend Jerry Seinfeld helped convince him that this was the right time to say goodbye to the role.
"I was having a chat with him about a year ago at his birthday and he was talking about why he finished the end of ['Seinfeld'] and how it was riding high," he said on Tuesday's "Live with Kelly and Michael." "And he said he just always had this feeling or belief that you never know when either your energy or the audience's energy is going to dip over and people are like, 'Please! Go!'"
Seinfeld starred in the massive hit sitcom of the same name until he decided to end the series in 1998.
Still, Jackman did admit he has at least one reservation about giving up Wolverine.
He said, "I'm more excited about this movie than ever before, and I just know in my gut it's the right thing. And hopefully in five years I'm not coming back here going, 'Why did I do that?!'"
The Australian actor's next Wolverine film, which is currently untitled, will open on March 3, 2017.
Jackman previously starred in two stand-alone Wolverine films: 2009's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" and 2013's "The Wolverine." He's also played the character in several "X-Men" movies, including last year's "X-Men: Days of Future Past."