Hugh Jackman has spent decades playing one of cinema’s most physical superheroes, but his new Robin Hood movie gave him a different kind of punishment.
The 57-year-old actor told People that one fight sequence in The Death of Robin Hood was “the hardest thing” he has ever done.
Jackman stars as an older, wounded version of the legendary outlaw in the A24 film from writer-director Michael Sarnoski.
The movie puts Robin in a darker place, carrying the weight of a life built on crime, violence and the myth that grew around him.
Jackman Said the Mud Fight Was Physically and Emotionally Brutal
Jackman told People that the scene had a strange closeness because of the nature of hand-to-hand combat. In the sequence, the actors were drenched in mud and working through a fight that became more intimate and unsettling as it went on.
The actor joked that he was still getting mud out of places a year later. He said the cold nighttime conditions, the emotional weight of the fight and the physical demands of the scene made it one of the toughest moments of his career.
“That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Jackman told the outlet.
The Fight Was Not Meant to Feel Heroic
The Death of Robin Hood does not present Robin as a simple folk hero. A24 describes the character as a man grappling with his past after a life of crime and murder, gravely injured after a battle he thought would be his last.
Jackman told People that he liked Sarnoski’s version because it treats Robin as a real man with scars, pain, regret and love. The violence is tied to what the character has done and what it has cost him, not just to the action of the scene.
The movie finds Robin in the care of a mysterious woman after the battle. Jodie Comer plays Sister Brigid, while the cast also includes Bill Skarsgård, Murray Bartlett, Noah Jupe, Faith Delaney and Ungvary.
The Gear Made the Action Even Harder
Fox News Digital reported that Jackman wore about 200 pounds of gear during production. At the film’s world premiere, he said the fight scenes required extensive rehearsal and pushed him beyond what he expected after years of action work.
“Nothing has prepared me for how hard these were,” Jackman told Fox News Digital.
That comparison stands out because Jackman spent years doing demanding fight scenes as Wolverine across the X-Men and Deadpool films. In The Death of Robin Hood, the challenge was not only the combat itself, but the weight, mud, cold and emotional brutality around it.
The Film Reimagines Robin Hood as an Aging Outlaw
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Fox News Digital reported that Jackman intentionally avoided revisiting earlier Robin Hood movies while preparing for the role. He said the film felt like a “re-deconstruction” of the Robin Hood myth rather than another version of the familiar heroic legend.
Comer told the outlet that Sister Brigid is trying to help Robin find hope and goodness without excusing the actions in his past. The film’s official synopsis keeps the same focus, placing Robin after what may be his final battle and giving him a chance at salvation.
The Death of Robin Hood opened in theaters on June 19.