Anna Paquin said Hugh Jackman was 'put through the wringer' on 'X-Men' but 'never ever complained'

• Anna Paquin and Hugh Jackman became good friends after starring together in four "X-Men" movies.
• Paquin said that Jackman was "put through the wringer" having to do all sorts of stunts.
• The Rogue actress said that Jackman never complained and was still a "lovely, gracious human being."

"X-Men" helped to make Hugh Jackman into an international superstar thanks to his role as Wolverine. Unsurprisingly, the work it took to shoot the movie was not exactly smooth sailing.

Rogue actress Anna Paquin, who quickly became good friends with Jackman while making the movie, told SiriusXM's "The Jess Cagle Show" just how tough a time the Australian actor had on the set of the comic book film.

"He got put through the wringer on that first one and never ever complained," Paquin said. "It's minus 40 [degrees] and he's being dropped off some building onto his back over and over and over again. And still has all the time in the world to be a nice, normal person."

Jackman did require some help from his costar, however. When they were shooting some of the movie's opening scenes, wherein Jackman's Wolverine and Paquin's Rogue travel together in a truck, Jackman had his prop adamantium claws attached to his hands but also had to smoke a cigar - which is trickier than it might sound.

"I did have to pick cigar out of his teeth because he couldn't do it with his claws [out] without causing personal damage," Paquin said. "What are friends for?"

Earlier in the segment, Paquin told Cagle and co-host Julia Cunningham that Jackman was her best friend on set.

"Hugh was the person I was always closest with because I had all my scenes with him," Paquin said. "He is still a lovely, gracious human being."

Paquin and Jackman went on to star in three more "X-Men" movies together, although Paquin's part in the last of those, "Days of Future Past," can only be seen in the extended "Rogue Cut."

However, the two might not have become such good friends had Jackman not landed the role of the iconic Marvel Comics character. "The Lord of the Rings" star Viggo Mortensen actually turned down the role before Jackman was offered it.

In February this year, Mortensen said that he turned down the part because he didn't want to commit to the same role for years and years on end, while his son Henry said that the script for "X-Men" was "wrong."

It is rumored that the X-Men will soon be fully introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which we have only partially seen so far thanks to Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Quicksilver in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Days of Future Past" actor Evan Peters' fake Pietro in "WandaVision."

That means that Wolverine will likely be recast in any potential remake, although it remains to be seen which actor will don the famous side chops and claws.