Hugh Jackman Says Exploring Themes of Death in “Robin Hood” Was 'Calming and Really Healing' (Exclusive)
Hugh Jackman Says Exploring Themes of Death in “Robin Hood” Was 'Calming and Really Healing' (Exclusive)
Jack Smart, Nigel SmithFri, June 26, 2026 at 2:35 PM UTC
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Hugh Jackman in 'The Death of Robin Hood'Credit: A24 -
Hugh Jackman and Jodie Comer speak to PEOPLE exclusively about their new A24 movie, The Death of Robin Hood
Playing a late-in-life Robin Hood, Jackman had plenty of "healing" opportunities to reflect on mortality, he recalls
“There's a beauty to death, to the ending,” says the star
Hugh Jackman had a reckoning with mortality in his new movie.
InThe Death of Robin Hood(in theaters now), the Australian actor-producer plays the titular hero who, as the title implies, is near the end of his life. It gave Jackman, 57, plenty of "healing" opportunities to reflect.
“I keep saying the word beautiful, which sounds a little reductive or something,” the actor-producer tells PEOPLE of the Michael Sarnoski film. “But it feels that way to me in the way that humanity can be complex and beautiful.”
Hugh Jackman in 'The Death of Robin Hood'Credit: Aidan Monaghan/A24
Costarring Bill Skarsgård, Noah Jupe, Murray Bartlett, Faith Delaney and Jodie Comer, The Death of Robin Hood sees the outlaw “gravely injured after a battle he thought would be his last,” per distributor A24’s official synopsis. “In the hands of a mysterious woman, he is offered a chance at salvation.”
Light spoilers for the movie follow: Jackman says that playing Robin Hood in the moment the title suggests was cathartic on-camera and off. “There's something about sitting in the idea of the final moments of life when you're hoping it's not the final amounts of life, but you get to go there and experience it,” he says.
“There's a beauty to death, to the ending,” continues Jackman, as his costar Comer, 33, chimes in: “Letting go.”
Hugh Jackman and Jodie Comer at New York premiere of 'The Death of Robin Hood' on June 10Credit: John Nacion/Variety via Getty
“Letting go, exactly,” says the Oscar nominee. “That was the feeling of this character, who's been so held on to so many things and carrying the weight of so much guilt and pain.”
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He concludes, “Being able to let go of it and going into that space is meditative, calming and really healing actually.”
That calming energy extended to Sarnoski’s leadership while filming The Death of Robin Hood in Ireland. “There was a relaxation on set,” recalls Jackman. “It was very calm. Michael's got a confidence to him and he knows exactly what he wants.”
“There's a lot of humor and a lot of love,” agrees Comer. “Michael got together such a beautiful group of people. He himself doesn't take himself too seriously.”
“Yeah, he's always laughing a lot,” says Jackman. “It was light. Jodie, you're a laugher. You're a giggler.”
“I am a giggler,” quips Comer.
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The Death of Robin Hood is in theaters.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
