Hugh Jackman’s breakthrough role as Wolverine in X-Men launched him into mainstream stardom. But the 50-year-old actor was almost fired from his X-Men gig.

The actor made the revelation while he was performing on stage in ‘Hugh Jackman: The Man. The Music. The Show.’ He had a little chat with the audience regarding his most iconic role as Wolverine.

“I was told that things weren’t really working out as they hoped. I was about to get fired from my first Hollywood movie – the biggest of my career,” he told the London crowd. “I was angry, I went home to my wife and I complained. I was [complaining] an Olympic level of [complaining] to Deb, my wife, and moaning about this person and that person.”

Thank goodness his wife Deborra-Lee Furness was there to give him reassurance. Otherwise, we might have had someone else play Wolverine and that simply won’t do. Jackman says that after patiently listening to him rant for an hour his wife told him:

“You are worrying way too much about what everything else is thinking. Just go back to the character, focus on that, trust your instinct… you’ve got this.”

I know no better way to spend a day off … #mydebs @Deborra_lee pic.twitter.com/KEQMeyD79r

— Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) May 23, 2019

The actor recalled that her words were enough to motivate him at the time.

“To me that was love. Someone that believes in you when you don’t fully believe in yourself,” he gushed on. “This show is dedicated to Deb and the kids.”

Hugh and Deborra have now been married for 23 years. The couple is parents to Oscar and Ava Jackman.