The Australian actor made his breakthrough as the gruff, clawed mutant Wolverine in 2000's "X-Men" film and has since played the character eight times on screen. But with this year's "Logan," Jackman said he and the filmmakers took the biggest risk for his final performance as the mutant hero.
"This was not a given money-maker," Jackman said in an interview.
"People considered this to be the biggest risk, the most foolish risk ever taken, and I think people assume you're just doing a sequel because it's a money-maker, but my experience from being within it is that it's always felt like a risk and I think that's to be embraced."
In the film, an older, wearier Logan struggles with alcoholism as he rescues a young mutant girl and unwillingly aids her in her journey to get to safety, the two forging an unlikely friendship despite both their explosive tempers.
"This is a man whose life is cantered on violence," Jackman said. "It seemed very difficult thematically, not just in terms of graphic violence but the consequences of violence, it seemed impossible to make that as a PG-13 movie and really get into the thematic of that and on a serious level."
"It's a great time for us as actors or creators of stories," Jackman said. "I'm thrilled that the Academy (of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, voters of the Oscars) is seeing that there are less boundaries in a way of what makes a really good film, and the genre shouldn't dictate that."