Someone should explain to Hugh Jackman the concept of jinxing oneself.
Jackman is currently involved with Jez Butterworth’s stage production of The River. In that play, he brings his girlfriend to a remote fishing cabin. In one scene, Jackman is scripted to clean, prepare and cook a real trout on stage. He is to do this every night.
Talking to a press crew before the show opened, Jackman said, “Don’t worry. I’m going to make you love gutting fish.”
The trouble is, this is not some staged preparation with the finished product hidden somewhere while Jackman mimes his way through it. It involves a real knife.
Cleaning and cooking a fish in his own kitchen or cabin is fine with Jackman. But doing it on stage every night made him a bit nervous. He spoke about it before the play even opened.
“I love the idea of doing all that, in silence and alone, except I’m on stage in front of 750 people. I love the power of theatre to create a moment like that – though if I cut myself and start bleeding all over the place it might not be so silent.”
And wouldn’t you know it, that’s exactly what he did. Only it didn’t happen when he was doing the fish. Jackman cut the tip of his finger while slicing a lemon live on stage. The actor was a pro about it. He grabbed a towel and went right on with the scene.
Medics examined Jackman when he came off stage, which was an hour later. They determined that he did not need stitches. In fact he went out to sign autographs after the show.
After all was done, Jackman took to Instagram to show everyone that he is whole.
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