!["If I weren't getting paid ... I would just be a tall, lean, fit guy."](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/aa/f5/aaf57e76adb35416c02067e90dc48bc7.jpg?itok=8UxjgO0p ""If I weren't getting paid ... I would just be a tall, lean, fit guy."")
Hugh Jackman lost 15 pounds to play Jean Valjean in "Les Misérables," then promptly had to gain more weight back to play the hulking superhero Wolverine.
In a new still from his upcoming film, "The Wolverine," Jackman sports a buffer physique than the lean, vascular body he showed off in a promo shot released in September 2012.
While his body transformations and weight fluctuations seem extreme to most people, dramatically changing his appearance is just part of the job for the strapping 6-foot-3 Jackman.
"[Your body] is your tool as much as your voice, as much as your emotions," he said. "So I've always taken that very seriously and I love playing Wolverine.
"It's a great character, but I want it to be better than the last time. I want to be physically in better shape [each time]. Otherwise, there's no point doing it."
In "The Wolverine" (which comes out July 26), Jackman's character travels to Japan, where he faces off against a mysterious figure from his past in an epic battle.
As he has with previous "Wolverine" films, Hugh worked out twice a day and followed a high-calorie, high-protein diet to develop the rippling physique of his buff on-screen alter ego.
Jackman, who dislikes working out, goes full-throttle with his exercise regimen out of respect for the hard-core, bad-*ss Wolverine.
"When I lift something heavy, I remember that is Wolverine," said Hugh, 44. "The little bit to where you're going to want to drop it and then you go, 'No way,' that little bit is Wolverine."
