Logan was promoted with the fact that it was set to be Hugh Jackman’s final time playing Wolverine, but it later turned out that another OG member of the franchise would be bowing out as well: Sir Patrick Stewart, who’d played Charles Xavier AKA Professor X on and off since 2000’s X-Men.
While talking with Variety, Stewart reflected back on the critically acclaimed film and explained the story of how he settled on the idea to bring his time with the character to an end.
“Hugh had been on record that this would be his last time before Logan even started shooting,” Stewart said. “I hadn’t given it a thought until I saw the film for the first time with an audience at the Berlin Film Festival. It was Hugh and James Mangold and myself, and when it got to the last 10 minutes of the movie, it was emotional and intense, and I could feel myself getting choked up. Then I looked over at Hugh and he was wiping his eyes, and I thought if Wolverine can weep at a movie, Charles Xavier can do the same thing. Then Hugh reached over and grabbed my hand and we held hands for the rest of the movie.”
“When I was still wiping my eyes and smiling through the credits, which were very long, by the way, it became very clear to me that there would never be a better way of saying goodbye to the franchise than the one I just witnessed. Charles dies in Logan’s arms with Logan profoundly saddened. No better opportunity to say au revoir could ever extend itself.”
Since announcing his retirement, it looked like it might be possible to tempt Stewart back into Charles’ wheelchair, as he showed interest in appearing in a Deadpool movie on a couple of occasions, as well as turning up for a cameo in Legion, the spinoff TV show starring Dan Stevens as David Haller, Xavier’s son. However, it now seems that Stewart is sticking to his guns and has decided to close the book on his time with the character for good.
Thankfully, the actor could even get one heck of a reward for his commitment to the franchise, as Oscar buzz suggests Logan could earn Stewart his first ever Academy Award nomination. If so, that would make him only the second actor to be commended as such for their work in a comic book movie, after Heath Ledger posthumously won for The Dark Knight.
On how he prepared for this very different take on the familiar character in Logan, Patrick Stewart revealed that he deliberately lost a lot of weight so as to closely resemble a frail, 90-year-old man and in turn, add more poignancy to his performance as the dying Xavier.
“I’ve always been blessed by being able to lose weight easily, and I spread this out over the span of a few months so that it was easier to take. When I lose weight, it tends to be most noticeable in the face, and that’s what I wanted. I wanted to look sick and undernourished and stressed and frail and vulnerable. Hugh had to carry me in the movie, and I assured him that I would do my damnedest to make sure I was carry-able.”
Tell us, are you happy to hear that Stewart is officially done with the X-Men franchise? Or were you still holding out hope for a return even after Logan? As always, drop your thoughts in the usual spot below.
