Actor Hugh Jackman's wife warned him against taking the biggest role of his career in the X-Men movie franchise - because she thought the idea of her husband playing Wolverine on screen it was "ridiculous".

The Hollywood hunk has appeared as the hirsute, clawed mutant in all of the blockbuster superhero film instalments, including 2014's X-Men: Days Of Future Past, but he admits his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, initially urged the star to decline the role.

Jackman tells Vulture magazine, "She read three pages and was like, 'You got claws coming out of you hands? This is ridiculous. Don't do it'."

The actor's role in the franchise has earned him millions of dollars and Furness has since revealed she is glad her husband took the role.