Hugh Jackman has undergone one of the biggest transformations of his career for “The Death of Robin Hood.” The effect was so extreme that he was initially unrecognizable to co-star Jodie Comer.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the 57-year-old actor appears decades older in the dark medieval drama. He has been spotted wearing a long gray-white wig, a huge bushy beard and subtle facial prosthetics. The combination makes him look like a weathered outlaw nearing the end of his life.
According to People, the film, directed by Michael Sarnoski, reimagines the legendary hero as an older, battle-scarred Robin Hood. The story is inspired by the original medieval ballads rather than the traditional version audiences are more familiar with.
Reinventing Robin Hood for Hugh Jackman
According to Entertainment Weekly, Jackman’s longtime hairstylist, Sean Flanigan, and makeup artist, Pamela Westmore, came up with the striking look while they were working together on another film.
“We were sitting in the makeup trailer of ‘Song Sung Blue,’ just waiting to shoot and coming up with ideas and playing around,” Hugh Jackman recalled. After Flanigan found a photo for inspiration, the team decided, “we need to really make something that makes me look very different from anything else, but also just to really shake up the idea of Robin.”
Jackman said the design “immediately felt great,” while Sarnoski revealed his reaction was instant.
“Their first crack at it was like, ‘Yep, that’s the idea!'” the director said.
A Robin Hood Whose Appearance Changes With the Story
According to Entertainment Weekly, Sarnoski wanted Robin Hood’s appearance to evolve naturally as the story progressed.
At the beginning, he said the character was “kind of like an ogre living in a cave.” Later in the story, the same hairstyle would need to be adapted to make him look battle-ready before becoming “a little more” elegant without drastically changing Jackman’s appearance.
“They just did an amazing job of finding this look that could say different things at different times in the movie,” Sarnoski said.
Hugh Jackman’s Decision To Stay Fit but Not Bulky
Although Jackman trained hard for the physically demanding role, according to Entertainment Weekly, he deliberately avoided the muscular physique fans associate with Wolverine.
“I knew there was a lot of physicality in it, so I was in shape, and I would do my normal routine,” he said. However, he also decided to be “a bit leaner” than Wolverine. After all, his character starts out in the movie like someone “living in a cave,” so Hugh Jackman decided to stay lean. As he said, “we thought that’s what the reality of a hermit would be.”
The Exhausting Fight Scene Filmed in Real Mud
According to Entertainment Weekly, the film’s brutal action scenes pushed the cast to their limits. This is especially true of one particular rain-soaked battle.
“As hard as it was on me, I don’t know how anyone carried a camera through that,” Hugh Jackman said. “That mud was just brutal.”
Sarnoski confirmed the conditions were genuine.
“That was all real mud. It was pouring rain… it was like a foot deep of mud.”
Jackman said he and co-star Elijah Ungvary became so exhausted that they leaned into that fatigue during the fight.
“We didn’t want it to be pretty.”
Hugh Jackman’s favorite moment came when he paused during the battle because he was genuinely worn out.
“I was literally just, as Hugh, resting because I was exhausted,” he said. He added that there was “a weird intimacy” to such close combat.
Sarnoski agreed, saying, “The intimacy of violence is something that carries all the way through to the end of the movie.”
Jodie Comer Didn’t Recognize Her Co-Star, Hugh Jackman
According to People, Jodie Comer was stunned when she first saw Jackman in full costume.
“I was like, ‘Who’s that?'” she recalled. “And then I heard his voice and I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ It was so striking.”
Jackman later revealed one of the biggest secrets behind the transformation.
“I didn’t have time to grow the beard, so that’s fake,” he said. He explained that the goal was to make Robin Hood look “striking” and almost impossible to recognize.
Links to Two of the Original Robin Hood Actors
Hugh Jackman’s transformation also has an unexpected connection to Hollywood history.
Hairstylist Sean Flanigan and makeup artist Pamela Westmore come from a family whose work helped shape the screen image of Robin Hood over multiple generations. This connection dates back to the days of Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn. Fairbanks and Flynn played Robin Hood on film in the 1920s and 1930s respectively, according to the Walt Disney website.
“Pretty cool, right?” Jackman said of the connection.
A Fun Mood on Set Despite the Darkness of the Film
Despite the film’s dark tone, according to People, both Comer and Jackman said the atmosphere on set was fun.
Comer described the film set as having “so much levity,” to which Hugh Jackman agreed.
“We were shooting in Ireland. There’s a lot of humor and a lot of love.”
The pair credited Sarnoski with creating that environment, describing him as someone who “doesn’t take himself too seriously.”
Comer also said watching Hugh Jackman create Robin Hood’s emotional journey unfold felt almost meditative.
“I was almost taking a step back and being witness to something.”
