Bodybuilding legend reveals his big problem with Hugh Jackman’s radical movie muscleman transformations
Australian bodybuilding legend Lee Priest has revealed the big problem he has with Hollywood star Hugh Jackman’s radical physical transformations for superhero movie roles.
Last year, at 55, Jackman showcased what many are describing as his most impressive and ripped shape ever in the hit film Deadpool & Wolverine.
The A-list actor has often spoken about his strict diet and exercise routines – but Priest says Jackman’s incredible efforts make him laugh.
‘Hugh Jackman was talking about Wolverine once and he was saying that he hates doing it because of the training and the cardio and ‘I eat chicken breast three times a day’,’ said Priest.
‘I’m thinking, mate, you’re getting 30 million a movie. I used to do that s**t for a plastic trophy. If you’re lucky.
‘Sometimes you wouldn’t get nothing, you’d go through that hell.’
Actor Hugh Jackman (pictured playing Wolverine in The Wolverine) is known for getting into exceptional shape for superhero roles
Australian bodybuilding legend Lee Priest says Jackman is getting paid huge money for dieting and exercise – whereas he used to do the same thing for free
In 2024, another famous bodybuilder, Greg Doucette, called out Jackman multiple times for allegedly ‘lying’ about his performance-enhancing drug use and setting unrealistic physique standards for young men.
Doucette, who has coached hundreds of bodybuilders, claimed it would be extremely difficult to pack that amount of muscle and get so lean at Jackman’s age without the help of PEDs like steroids.
The fitness influencer also highlighted a video in which he accuses Jackman of lying about his diet and said if he is willing to lie about that, he is likely willing to cover up his use of steroids.
Jackman said on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon while promoting Deadpool & Wolverine that he consumed an six thousand calories daily, made up mostly of veggies, tilapia, and chicken, to prepare for his role.
Doucette – who also holds an advanced degree in kinesiology, the study of human movement – claimed to his two million YouTube subscribers that to drop enough body fat to get abs as defined as Jackman’s, one would need to eat a calorie deficit, meaning working off more calories than you take in.
It would be impossible, he said to burn off 6,000 calories in a day and would likely cause Jackman to pile on some pounds.
Natural, or ‘natty’, is used to describe people who train without the assistance of PEDs.
‘I would bet at most he was consuming 3,000 calories and likely closer to 2,000 calories,’ Doucette claimed.
Jackman underwent a huge physical transformation to play superhero Wolverine for his 2024 film and insists his preparation including bulking up on calories and exercise
Some weightlifters are skeptical that Jackman hasn’t used PEDs to transform his body
At his age, Jackman would naturally have a lower testosterone level than a man in his 30s.
Once a man reaches 40, his testosterone levels typically fall about one percent per year.
That decline in testosterone often leads to a reduction in muscle mass and strength, making it harder to build muscle through diet and exercise.
Low testosterone is also associated with increased body fat around the abdomen.
Growth hormone levels also decline with age, meaning the body has a diminished ability to support muscle development.
Jackman told TV host Jimmy Fallon: ‘It’s 6,000 calories, and it’s not the calories you necessarily want. Like, half a pizza is 6,000 calories.
‘But no, this is chicken, and it’s tilapia and beans. Tilapia and beans. I don’t know why tilapia. It must be some fish that is lean, and green beans.’
Doucette has been open about his use of steroids and other PEDs during his bodybuilding career and uses his YouTube channel to raise awareness about their harms.
Jackman said he ate 6,000 calories per day to bulk up for his role, made up mostly of lean protein and vegetables
He also claimed that Jackman’s toned physique on screen could have been a product of computer generation.
Doucette referenced a specific scene in the new film Deadpool and Wolverine in which armor flies off of him, revealing a perfect physique.
‘You’ve all watched the movie by now, and so it was tilapia and beans; that was the secret.
‘And so you really think that this 55-year-old man had that body with no testosterone, no performance-enhancing drugs, and zero CGI?
‘Imagine eating 6,000 calories a day and looking like that at 55 years old. You know what, yeah, we’re going to have to imagine it because it’s not possible.’
Jackman has rejected accusations he used steroids to bulk up for roles, saying he had been warned off using PEDs due to the possible effects on his health.
‘I’ve got to be careful what I say here, but I had been told anecdotally what the side effects are of that. And I was like, “I don’t love it that much.” So no, I just did it the old-school way,’ he told HBO’s Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace show in January 2023.
