‘Wolverine’ star Hugh Jackman says it took a team of 8 people to get him into superhero shape

Hugh Jackman is still in superhero shape.

The “Deadpool & Wolverine” star took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a shirtless mirror selfie with his 34 million followers. “I am grateful,” Jackman captioned the post of himself in black sweatpants flexing his muscles in the mirror.

Along with his shirtless selfie, Jackman attached a nearly four-minute-long voice note, crediting “eight people” for helping him get in shape.

“I’ve had a lot of people who talk to me and ask me questions about how I got into shape,” he said. “What I did, what I ate, how I trained, how hard is it at your age? Just wanted to take a second and say, yeah I had to turn up, I had to do those deadlifts, I had to eat those meals, but I had an incredible team who helped me. There’s no hope in hell I would have gotten there without them.”

Jackman mentioned Beth Lewis, who has been the actor’s trainer over the past several years. He also thanked his makeup artist, Whitney James, who enhanced his figure for “Deadpool & Wolverine.”

“Whitney, my makeup artist, was called to put on some kind of oil to make my skin glisten,” he explained. “You would hear [director] Shawn Levy yell out, ‘Fresh lube on Hugh!’ Everyone would laugh.”

Fans and his peers quickly congratulated Jackman on maintaining his physique. 

Athlete Lindsey Vonn commented, “All those days in the gym paid off!”

Another user wrote, “Hugh, I am also great grateful…..Thank you.” Another added, “I am grateful too!” 

In May, Jackman spoke to People about preparing to get back into superhero shape. The actor shared that a large portion of physically preparing to reprise his role came from working with stunt coordinator Brian Smrz on “dance training” to help him in different scenes.

Jackman told the outlet he “loved” the idea of incorporating dance into his stunts, even as he continues to age.

“When I came back to it, it was really fun, and I was thrilled. My body was a little sore at the beginning, but I was thrilled that my body was still responding. And I realized how good it is for your brain,” Jackman said.

The actor admitted the hardest part of getting in shape for the film wasn’t the workouts or the dance training, but the diet. Jackman explained that, in the past, he was required to “bulk up” to portray “Wolverine,” which wasn’t easy on him.

“I have to eat a lot,” he explained. “For me, for my body type, I’m naturally skinny. To get the size on, that’s the hardest bit. That’s the bit that does my head in.” 

Jackman’s co-star, Ryan Reynolds, was also part of the interview and said, “Yeah, the five, six meals a day, which sounds great to some people. I’m sure they’re like, ‘Well, that sounds great.’ But it’s not like the type of food that you would really necessarily enjoy.”

Reynolds explained that even though he and Jackman have been friends for 17 years, he was intimidated by seeing him on set.

“I noticed that in the film that we would change things quite quickly and say, ‘OK, let’s try this and that.’ And particularly the physicality — that ability, the dance and that background — really came in because you would do stuff where I was convinced when you were coming at me a few times, there is no way this guy’s pulling his punch,” Reynolds said. “I will be decapitated by Hugh Jackman, and that will be his f—ing cross to bear, not mine.”

“When Hugh Jackman is coming at you at 150 Australian miles per hour, you feel like there’s no way you’re not going to be dead in four seconds,” Reynolds added. “And I will never forget that. And thank God I’m in a mask, because under the mask my face is going, ‘Oh God!’”