Hugh Jackman was almost a reporter

CEBU, Philippines - Imagine a world where Hugh Jackman — “Wolverine” star, Vegemite eater, and fan appreciator — wasn’t an actor.

The Oscar nominee opened up in a new interview with Parade magazine about what turned him away from his planned career path of journalism. The Aussie star studied the subject for three years at the University of Technology Sydney before deciding to become an actor instead.

“The goal was to become a stringer, travel the world and file reports,” he told the magazine. “At the same time, I was also doing a lot of amateur theater. It was a hobby. I didn’t think that I could make a living acting.”

His ideas about his career changed after he began studying acting full-time at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

“I realized it’s not really who I am,” the 46-year-old said of being a reporter. “I didn’t have the drive. I felt a bit of a fake. The other students were more passionate. When I went off to drama school for three years, that was it for me. I was acting like 10 to 12 hours a day. I was so happy!”

Journalism came close to stealing away several other A-listers who studied the subject in college, including Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington, and George Clooney. Makes sense, since like acting, broadcast journalism requires time in front of the camera. However, Jackman is different in that he wanted to be a traveling correspondent.

Acting came easy for Jackman, who had a lot of emotion to tap into for roles in films such as “X-Men” and “Les Misérables” thanks to his painful childhood.

“I was volatile,” Jackman explained. “My mum left when I was 8. My anger didn’t really surface until I was 12 or 13. It was triggered because my parents were going to get reconciled and didn’t. All those years I’d been holding out hope that they would.”

But the star, who began his career in the mid-‘90s, has never forgotten his early aspirations. In August, he couldn’t resist photobombing a TV reporter covering his visit to the Sydney Children’s Hospital in support of the Fight Cancer Foundation.

It took him a while to figure it out, but the guy was obviously made to be a movie star.