It is known that the popular Australian actor Hugh Jackman he played the “tough” superhero Wolverine in X-Men, with his Hollywood stock skyrocketing soon after.

What is not widely known is the background. Why Jackman? was not the first choice for the role! He played Wolverine only after Tom Cruise blocked his Mission: Impossible II co-star, Scottish actor Dougray Scott, from taking the role, as Scott himself has stated.

Mission Dangerous 2 was enjoyed on on Saturday, and considered one of his good franchises, the Scottish actor was set to play Wolverine in the first X-Men film in 2000, but had to drop out at the last minute as there was a schedule overlap with sequel to Mission: Impossible.

“Tom Cruise wouldn’t let me do it,” Scott explained to the Daily Telegraph three years ago. “We did Mission: Impossible and he said, ‘You have to stay and finish the movie,’ and I said I’ll do it, but I’ll go and do the other one (X-Men) as well.

“For some reason he said that I couldn’t” commented on the veto of the big Hollywood star.

Scott continued, “He (Cruz) was a very powerful guy … Others did everything to make (whatever he wanted) happen.”

Scott was an up-and-coming actor at the time, with roles in Ever After and Deep Impact. When he took on the role of the “bad guy”, the awe-inspiring rival of Tom Cruise, no one expected that he could turn against him…

However, despite their different professional trajectories since 2000, Scott clarified that he is not jealous of Jackman.

“I love what Hugh did with the role,” he said. “He’s a great guy.”

Tom Cruise is the protagonist, and in the seventh, hopefully, (but not the last…) film of the successful Mission Dangerous franchise.