Actor Hugh Jackman was having trouble acting as a cruel father in his newest film, "Real Steel," according to director Shawn Levy.
“After certain takes, Hugh would come up to me, concerned, asking ‘Are you sure I’m not being too harsh to this boy?’” Levy said, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. “I would assure him that … his fundamental kindness came through and, second, if we don’t set this character up as an unsympathetic rogue the satisfaction of his later redemption won’t pack a punch.”
Though the film is advertized as a sci-fi sports movie about boxing robots, Jackman reveals there is a strong father-son theme.
“The father-son aspect is the spine of the movie,” Jackman said. “As cool a concept as it was to have all of the boxing robots, and as great as that is, we needed to achieve a couple of things beyond that. We needed to make people care about those robots and even with the great design that requires the audience to care about the people around the robots. It’s a redemption tale about all three beings — the father, the son and the robot.”
“Real Steel” is set in the near-future world where robot gladiator combat has become as big and corporate as NASCAR but also has a dark underground counterpart, the Los Angeles Times reports. Jackman’s character is obsessed with the sport until his ex-girlfriend has dies and leaves their son in his custody.
