Daniel Radcliffe laughs off rumours he will play Wolverine: ‘Anything that implies the fleetingest similarity to Hugh Jackman is incredibly flattering’

Daniel Radcliffe wants everyone to stop saying he’s going to play Wolverine.

But, the Harry Potter actor can see the funny side of the rumours, since he’s often the one fuelling them.

Chatting with Jimmy Fallon on Friday night, the Woman in Black star, 32, confirmed that he has no plans to take on Wolverine in the next X-men movie.

The character was famously played by Hugh Jackman, but Daniel denied that he’ll be wearing those retractable claws any time soon.

‘This is something that has like come up every so often for the last few years,’ he stated.

Explaining how the rumours have followed him around for a long time, he said: ‘Every time it comes up I’m like, “That’s not true there’s nothing behind that,” and everyone’s like, “Oh, he said it might be true!” And I’m like, no, I didn’t. I said the opposite of that!’

He literally can’t say anything anymore (Picture: NBCUniversal Media, LLC)

He said fans tend to draw their own conclusions from his answers in interviews, which is dangerous if he tries to make light of the reports.

‘And then every so often I’ll get bored answering the question in a sensible way, so I’ll make a joke and every time I make a joke, I’m like, “Why did you do that?”‘ he added.

‘So the other day, I was like, “Prove me wrong, Marvel. And that has ignited a whole thing,’ he laughed. 

Describing why he reckons his name is always thrown around as the next Wolverine, Daniel joked: ‘I think it’s because Wolverine in the comics is fairly short, so I think people are going “Who’s a short actor? Him! He can maybe play him”.’

Hugh Jackman has played Wolverine across nine movies (Picture: Twentieth Century Fox Film/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)

Host Jimmy praised the child star and said he would make ‘a fantastic Wolverine’ to which he replied, ‘Anything that implies the fleetingest similarity to Hugh Jackman is incredibly flattering so I’m happy with that.’

The talkshow host then chose chaos and decided to fuel the rumours by saying: ‘I’m so happy you decided to announce on our show that you are playing Wolverine. This is great!’ 

‘No! No, it’s not,’ Daniel chuckled.

Australian actor Hugh has played the super-mutant across nine films, wrapping up his journey as Wolverine in 2017’s Logan.

Daniel’s most recent project is The Lost City, in which he stars with Sandra Bullock, 57.

Daniel is currently starring in The Lost City with Sandra Bullock (Picture: Getty)

Also on the show, the British actor shared that the Hollywood actress told him to call her by her nickname ‘Sandy.’

‘It took me so long to get to that point with her where I’d just be… I didn’t feel like I was there even after months and she was like, “Really, call me Sandy, you don’t have to call me Sandra,”‘ he shared.

He said that his friends would then mock him for talking about the Speed actress so casually, saying: ‘In conversation with my friends I’d be telling a story about work and I’d be like, “And then Sandy said…” and they’re like, “Ohh Sandy!”‘

The movie tells the story of reclusive author Loretta Sage, who writes adventure novels that feature a handsome cover model named Alan.

More: Daniel Radcliffe

While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta gets kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire who hopes she can lead him to an ancient city’s lost treasure from her latest story.

Alan tries to rescue her in a bid to prove he is a real-life hero.

The movie hits cinemas on April 15.

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