Strange reason Hugh Jackman turned down Bond

Hugh Jackman rejected the role of James Bond because he felt the scripts had become "unbelievable and crazy".

The 49-year-old actor was offered the chance to replace Pierce Brosnan as the iconic secret agent, but Jackman was unimpressed by the scripts and the role was ultimately handed to Daniel Craig.

The award-winning actor - who starred as Wolverine in the X-Men film series - recalled: "I was about to do X-Men 2 and a call came from my agent asking if I'd be interested in Bond.

"I just felt at the time that the scripts had become so unbelievable and crazy, and I felt like they needed to become grittier and real.

And the response was: 'Oh, you don't get a say. You just have to sign on.' I was also worried that between Bond and X-Men, I'd never have time to do different things."

Jackman explained that, for a portion of his career, he worried about being pigeon-holed as an actor.

The Australian star felt it was important for him to prove his versatility as a performer.

Speaking to Variety magazine, he shared: "I always tried to do different things. But there was a time between X-Men 3 and the first Wolverine movie when I could see the roles getting smaller.

"People wanted me to play that kind of hero part exclusively. It felt a little bit claustrophobic."

Despite currently being one of Hollywood's most popular actors, Jackman is often praised for his humility and generosity.

He credits his parents, Grace and Christopher, for his friendly attitude.

He explained: "It's the way I was brought up. My parents always treated people with great respect. My father never yelled, and I admired that.

"I also genuinely love the family aspect of what we do, and I feel more comfortable being relaxed and myself with everybody, rather than a feeling of 'Oh, I'm a big actor; you can't talk to me.'

"My way of connecting - maybe people attribute it as being nice, but it's just being a normal person."

- Bang! Showbiz