NEW YORK: It’s not that often that Hugh Jackman gets a role speaking in his native Australian accent, so while working on the upcoming science-fiction thriller “Chappie” he had to get reacquainted with the dialect.
The 46-year old Tony Award winner told The Associated Press on Tuesday that using his own accent “was great but weird.”
“I had to practice it because it was way stronger than my natural accent,” Jackman said.
Jackman also admits brushing up on some of the Australian slang that writer-director Neill Blomkamp wrote for the part.
“He used a lot of phrases, and I had to end up Googling the slang,” Jackman said. “Neill was coming up with some really cool sayings. ... I was trying to think of more, so I ended up Googling some of them.”
“Chappie,” which opens in theaters on March 6, tells the story of a fallen police robot that is reprogrammed to think and feel for itself. Jackman said he had fun playing the film’s antagonist, an engineer strongly opposed to artificial intelligence.
“We got to create this character that did stretch it a bit. We had a lot of fun with him from the look, his mannerism, the way he talked. At the same time, it was very much based in a reality that was needed for the movie in terms of the voice of caution,” Jackman said.
Blomkamp is known for his science-fiction thrillers “District 9” and “Elysium.”
The last time Jackman appeared in a film using his native accent was in “Australia” in 2008, opposite Nicole Kidman. He did lend his voice to the 2012 animated film “Rise of the Guardians.”
Speaking native accent ‘weird’: Hugh Jackman
Speaking native accent ‘weird’: Hugh Jackman
Mick Jagger’s fiancee ‘physically attacked’ at exclusive London club
- Melanie Hamrick, 38, dined with a friend before heading to private members’ club Annabel’s in Berkeley Square, Mayfair, where the incident happened
- The author, choreographer and former ballerina has been in a relationship with the 82-year-old Rolling Stones singer since 2014 and they have a 9-year-old son together
LONDON: Melanie Hamrick, Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger’s fiancee, said she was attacked at an elite and exclusive private member’s club in Mayfair, central London.
The 38-year-old said the incident on Tuesday at Annabel’s in Berkeley Square had left her heartbroken and shaken.
In a message posted later that night on Instagram, she wrote: “This is incredibly hard to share, but I was physically attacked at Annabel’s Mayfair tonight.
“I’m so thankful to my friends for protecting me. Two people grabbed me from behind and thank God for the good people who stepped in to help me.
“I’m shaken, sad and heartbroken that people can treat each other this way.”
The message was deleted a few hours after it appeared.
Hamrick has been in a relationship with 82-year-old Jagger since 2014, and she confirmed in April last year that they became engaged about two or three years earlier. They have a son, Deveraux, who was born in 2016.
Hamrick is a choreographer, author and former ballerina who performed with the American Ballet Theatre for 15 years before retiring in 2019.
Before the incident on Tuesday, she had dined with a socialite friend, Emma Thynn, before heading to Annabel’s. Sources at the venue said staff were not notified of an attack. The Metropolitan Police said it had not receive any report of an incident, the Daily Mail newspaper reported.
The incident is believed to have taken place outside of the club. In the past few weeks there has been a series of daytime heists targeting luxury goods stores across London. It is not known if the incident involving Hamrick was related to these.
However, the area around the prestigious Berkeley Square has become one of the worst in London, and even in Europe, for robberies and street crime, the Daily Mail said. Official figures show that people in the area were 30 times more likely to fall victim to crime compared with those in other parts of the city, the newspaper added.
Numbers of thefts and robberies, mainly of mobile phones, have tripled in London over the past four years, with tens of thousands of reported cases, particularly in the upmarket Mayfair and St James’s areas.
Organized criminal gangs have reportedly been targeting high-value luxury brands such as Rolex and Yves Saint Laurent across London. Some visitors have even hired private security while visiting the city.
Last month, the Daily Mail reported that Tom Cruise, 63, had abruptly moved out of his £35 million ($47 million) luxury apartment in One Hyde Park, a high-rise in West London, over safety fears.
