Hugh Jackman recalls filming last scene as Wolverine

Hugh Jackman has recalled how production paused on Logan after he completed his final scene as Wolverine so he could savour the moment.

The Australian actor, who began playing the superhero mutant in X-Men in 2000, said goodbye to the much-loved character in 2017 with an emotional scene that saw Wolverine pass away peacefully after sacrificing himself for his adopted mutant daughter, played by Dafne Keen.

In an interview for Variety's Actors on Actors series, Jackman told Anne Hathaway that he was ready to hang up his claws and lay the comic book character to rest.

"There were so many crossovers by the end, because I'd played it for so long," the 51-year-old explained. "I knew it was going to be my last one way before we wrote it. I made that decision. There was a weight of expectation that I'd been carrying. I was super invested."

And Jackman was happy with how Logan director James Mangold handled Wolverine's death scene, even though it was sprung on him at the last minute.

"He just said, 'We can't do this big stunt scene. But we're just going to do the death scene.' I'm like, 'Like, now?' He goes, 'I'm just going to have you and Dafne, and if you could just do that.' I'm like, 'All right.' He knew that's best for me," Jackman recalled.

The Greatest Showman star told Anne that after shooting Wolverine's demise, Mangold told him to embrace the end of an era and paused filming.

"We got there and we're shooting the scene," Jackman said. "And he goes, 'Man, let's just stop the clocks. Let's not worry about everything. This is the end of 19 years. Sit it in for half an hour.' Him allowing me - not just as an actor, but as Hugh - to remember that moment. It was a luxury that I'll never forget."