Hugh Jackman returns as Wolverine in the latest X-Men flick, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where the audience finally learns his past, the reasoning behind the feud with his brother, Victor Creed aka Sabertooth (Liev Schreiber) and is joined by familiar X-Men characters like Gambit (Taylor Kitsch) among many others.

Director Gavin Hood, Jackman, Schreiber and Kitsch all shared the injuries that happened on set and the benefits and disadvantages of having to get buffed-up for the film.

Q: Can you talk about making a fourth movie in the franchise?

Jackman: These guys helped because everything felt new and fresh and that was important to me. Obviously, starting with Gavin Hood, the director, together we thought the movie was going off on a new avenue; in a fresh direction. Let’s face it; I was filling in a 100 years of this guy’s life. So in a way, I was acting the wrong way around. Normally, that’s where you start. I played a character that didn’t really know anything about his past. And in this movie I was evolving this character. I have to say it felt as fresh as ever. I really loved it, and it was challenging. With these guys and all the others involved, it felt brand new.

Q: How did you stay you manage to stay in character the whole time while shooting?

Jackman: This is a little embarrassing. I am a little more of a wuss in real life obviously more than my character. And there is a moment when you are training where you just want to give up. I used to imagine myself, not when I was training with these guys because that would be embarrassing, but when I was on my own with my trainer Michael; I used to kind of imagine I was Wolverine, and somehow it always got two or three more reps out of me. It was also humiliating with the yelling, and it looked a little silly.

Schieber: I can vouch for the fact that he made Wolverine face when he was lifting weights.

Q: What were you trying to do in this film?

Schieber: It’s one of those classical things, it is Cain and Abel. I was thinking of this the other day, I know this is a little Shakespearian, Edgar and Edmund from Leer. It’s one of those stories that for me is really fun to play. Originally, when we first talked about to it, not to get too metaphysical, I kind of got into the idea that they were two sides of the same coin. In this movie what we were trying to explore was how this man became who he was, and part of that formula was that he was at war with himself. And if Victor personified and represented the darker side of his character, that’s what he was doing barrel with. I loved it because in a sense I was also playing Wolverine, in a metaphysical sense, but none the less in some sense.

Q: Did anyone get hurt in the fight scenes?

Jackman: Taylor?

Kitsch: Yea with the claws, I remember there is a scene where he breaks the bow staff coming at him, and I definitely remember one claw going in, hitting my thumb and sticking in there.

Jackman: I actually looked down because Taylor pulled away very quickly. I was like, ‘We are only half way through the fight, what’s the matter?’ And I looked down, and I only have two claws in my hand. I look up and he says, ‘Man that really hurts,’ and it’s sticking out of his hand.

Kitsch: So I clean up and come back, and I think that’s the take they kept, after I got bloodied up.

Q: How were you and the cast affected by the leak of the unfinished version of the film on the internet?

Hood: This is a tricky thing to talk about. When this leak happened, we were extremely shocked. It’s deeply distressing when you are trying to complete a piece of work, and someone steals it from you. And then someone sticks out in the world for scrutiny before you’re actually ready. Any of us making a piece of work, whether it be you guys doing your articles or radio shows, you want to polish it and do what you’re doing, and then offer it to the world. We all know we are going to be judged on our work, that’s fine, that’s the game. But to have the thing stolen before you are ready was just such a shock. However, we got through it. There were over 400 visual shots in that thing that were not complete. None of Harry Gregson-Williams’ wonderful music is in it because it was a temporary cut. We hadn’t color timed the movie, and it’s in low resolution because we were working in an avid computer system. It’s not the experience we wanted for the fans. I am flattered in some way that people are so desperate to see this character that people want to steal it before it’s even done, but really you are kind of shooting yourself in the foot. We are making Wolverine for the big screen with big sound and that kind of thing. So why would you want to watch it on a computer when it’s not done? And it’s not funny, you stole our stuff. And you stole it to what end? So you could see Wolverine incomplete? So, basically what I want to say and I think Hugh would join me in this, is that when it happened, 99 percent of the online community thought it was a terrible thing. They refused to put it up on their sites, and refused to even discuss it on their message boards.  I would like to thank the fan community, mostly, for doing that. They didn’t want the movie ruined for themselves or others. I know some of you have seen the stolen version, and none of us feel good about that.

Q: You talk about being a wuss in real life, but it had to be nice walking around being that buff?

Jackman: There’s a good and bad side to everything. It looks alright in the film, but in real life with a baseball cap on at six o’clock in the morning at the gym, it just looks odd.

Schreiber: Also it’s important to remember that the high protein diet does something really bad to your gastrointestinal system that makes walking around rather difficult as well.

Jackman: Liev put on about 30-35 lbs.

Schreiber: No, at least 130lbs of muscle for this film. Of course, I have lost most of that.

Jackman: My wife used to constantly say, Hugh, this is ridiculous, I don’t even know who you are. Then she said, now get into bed.

Q: So, are you the luckiest man on Earth or the sexiest man on Earth?

Jackman: I don’t know. I have to say being here with all these guys, in a movie that I am proud of, I feel incredibly lucky. I am going to be completely honest, when I was about 28 years old; I was at the national theater in London doing a production of Oklahoma, and that was as far I dreamed life to go for me as an actor. Everything since then has been a little surreal, and there is really not a day that goes by where I don’t thank my lucky stars. Honestly with all these people here, and to be in a position where I feel a little bit of propriety over why they are here makes it all worth wild. I feel very lucky. The sexy thing, I have known that for a long time. It is more of a relief than anything, finally.

Q: Did you feel any pressure playing the character Gambit? Did you know that he is one of the most popular X-Men characters?

Kitsch: I had no idea. No, I think I was reminded of it every second after I got Gambit. I hear everything. Like Hood said, it’s part of the game, and I welcome that pressure. I don’t think anyone is going to put more pressure on it than myself. It was a lot of fun to tackle it. And working off Hugh was incredible. I felt very safe to take risks. Hood is such a great actors’ director, and obviously there is so much to explore with Gambit. It was just an amazing experience; I had so much fun doing it. I would love to play him again, in a heartbeat.

Q: Can you talk about your training for your role as Gambit?

Kitsch: The day I got to Australia, I started playing with cards, learning to shuffle with one hand and throwing them. I must have thrown hundreds of decks against the wall in my hotel room in frustration, absolutely. You want to give yourself as many tools as you can so on the day (you’re shooting) you can unconsciously do it. And even if it didn’t come up in the movie, anything that I could take on that would help me unconsciously to be Gambit just added so much to it.