Hugh Jackman in Seoul
Since I’ve been in Korea, a handful of international movie stars have visited at one time or another, promoting movies or restaurants. A few years back when I was single, on a rare night that I decided to stay home, my room mate shot pool with a very drunk Jackie Chan. Bruce Willis made the circuit of local TV talk shows while he was here promoting Planet Hollywood some years ago, speaking through a translator and looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. Musicians come as part of a world tour from time to time. I saw Eric Clapton back in ‘98, the Scorpions have been here several times, Mr. Big, CCR (sans John Fogerty), Ricky Martin (saw that show, too, but that was my wife’s doing) and many more (Metallica is coming in August of this year). Foreign movie stars sometimes end up in local ads - Meg Ryan, Jessica Alba, and Catherine Zeta Jones, for example. But it’s rare for one of them to come here to promote a movie.
Hugh Jackman will be arriving in Seoul for a three day visit on June 13 as part of X-Men 3 promotion (it opens June 15). My wife first heard about it through an interview on a local cable channel last night. While Halle Berry was telling her Korean fans that she loves them (in Korean, even), Mr. Jackman was talking about how much he was looking forward to his visit. My wife leapt off of the sofa. I now have the job of finding out when and where he is going to be.
There are several events planned. One is a fan meet and I suppose, at the very least, my wife will drag me along to that one. I mean, I’m a fan of Hugh Jackman, too, but I’m not a fan of standing in line with screaming women for several hours just to get an autograph and a picture. I’d rather just stay home. My wife would kill to have a picture made with him, though. She has never had anything like that before. When I was a kid I was a big Dukes of Hazard fan. My father worked with John Schneider’s mother at IBM. I was able to get a picture made with him at an IBM Christmas party one year. It was the best thing ever, at the time. So as much as I hate to go, it will be worth braving the wailing masses for my wife to get her pic with Wolverine.
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