Liam McIntyre, the next Australian Wolverine, on playing 'gruff, angry loners'

Before becoming an actor, Liam McIntyre was an assistant manager at EB Games whose duties included inspecting trade-ins and selling the latest releases.

Twenty years later, he's back selling games but there's one small difference behind his throwback return: it's his face on the cover of the PlayStation 5 game Marvel's Wolverine.

"I don't think I believed it for three years," McIntyre tells ABC Arts. 

As an avid gamer (and recent Pro Jank Footy enthusiast) and X-Men fan who grew up watching the cartoons, this represented a dream role. 

"I filmed three-quarters of the game going, 'you're sure I'm Wolverine?'"

When he was invited to audition for "Rough Guy John", an angry man with razor-sharp knives jutting out from his knuckles, he didn't need Wolverine's superhuman senses to sniff out that he was actually auditioning to star in Insomniac Games's latest superhero blockbuster.

Marvel's Wolverine promises a more grounded, violent and combat-driven experience than the developer's quippy, webspinning Spider-Man series. McIntyre's background in ferocious gladiatorial combat in the Spartacus: Vengeance TV series was an advantage for recording Wolverine's animalistic grunts, terse dialogue and ferocious roars in a Burbank motion-capture studio.

"I don't know why I keep being picked to be these gruff, angry loners who wield violence to help people," McIntyre says. "What's that say about me?"

Wolverine's world

McIntyre has moved into voice acting in recent years, but the relentless scrutiny of providing both a comic icon's face and voice reminds him of his early theatre career at venues like Melbourne's White Whale Theatre.

"This is the weirdest blend of stage and film, because you're always in the round, you're always in a close-up. And you never know which one they're going to pick," he says.

The experience reminds him of sparse and intimate "black box theatre" venues; he had to use his imagination while performing in a tight Lycra suit dotted with reflective balls.

As the line between Hollywood and big budget video games narrow, McIntyre faces the same unusual challenges as Marvel A-listers when he pretends to crawl through burning buildings, decapitate The Hand's crimson-cloaked ninjas, or jump out of a plane sticking two middle claws up at his feral rival Sabretooth.

"You've got this giant helmet on, so if you try to hug someone you try not to Velcro onto them, which ruins the sound, and try not to clank into each other, which ruins the footage," says McIntyre.

"But I always think about regular film and television; you're still pretending there isn't a wall of cameramen and lights."

"You're used to removing segments of the reality you're in so you can act."

Why Australians play Wolverine best

Fourteen years ago, when McIntyre was asked for his favourite actor he immediately replied "Hugh Jackman". Now he's the second Australian to play a starring role synonymous with the Sydneysider superstar.

McIntyre feels unfazed by the pressure that comes with following a beloved predecessor in a storied role; his American TV breakthrough followed the tragic death of original lead Andy Whitfield.

He carries the same lessons for Wolverine. He resists the temptation to imitate, to copy how Jackman clenches his jaw, furrows his brow, or holds his claws up like a boxer (Jackman's stance was inspired by watching Mike Tyson title fights).

"I can't ever be him. I wouldn't want to copy him," McIntyre says of Jackman. 

Instead, he's drawing from beyond Hollywood, including Chris Claremont's famous run on the Marvel comics series and Cal Dodd's Clint Eastwood-influenced vocal delivery on X-Men: The Animated Series.

Despite the illustrious competition, between McIntyre and Jackman there's a strong argument that Australians make the best Wolverines.

"I don't think you have to be Australian to be Wolverine. But it helps!" McIntyre says. "The Australian ethos, gruff, earthy, don't seek the plaudits, tall poppy syndrome, all align with the way Wolverine is. He keeps his head down."

The cycle of violence

Wolverine's barely suppressed rage is one characteristic neither Australia or Canada would claim. Yet Wolverine's anger is a core element of the game, with an aggressive rage system where collecting kills is rewarded with increasingly powerful attacks and graphic slaughter.

This emphasis created an odd situation familiar to any video game voice actor: the need to record an extraordinary quantity of agonising screams, roars and grunts.

McIntyre hoped to space out these strenuous non-verbal sessions. That didn't happen.

"There was one day where it [the day's recording runsheet] was 'Grunts, angry.' 'Grunts, perturbed.' "Grunts, confused.'" remembers McIntyre, who made it through with herbal remedies and some surprisingly effective vocal exercises using a straw. 

"This is the most acting I'll do in my life,' he says.

A longer, broader story than the movies

Once his voice was restored to its deep and sonorous pitch, McIntyre can be grateful for opportunities that come with the game's extended run time.

Players get 15 to 20 hours to uncover the core dichotomy of a character caught between two selves: an animal who can fall prey to his worst instincts, and a man who desperately hopes to be better than the lonely screw-up he so often is.

"I love this rare opportunity to tell this longer, broader story," McIntyre says.

"It's got so much detail and time with the character to really explore that. You don't always get that, even in a movie."

Moving from movies to games came with some surprises. Screen mediums usually give the final say to the director, but games share that autonomy with players with occasional interference from a few erratic glitches.

McIntyre was surprised to see his facial animations become the subject of numerous in-jokes in Insomniac's Slack channel, especially one glitch where his character's famous yellow outfit remained in one room, while his character progressed to the next entirely naked (a stunt double's body, he swiftly adds).

"Which was fine in theory until I realised that people would save this and then share it around. That's my face! Please be gentle," laughs McIntyre, fearing what millions of players will do with his likeness. "I didn't think that through when I signed away my rights."

Despite those misgivings, McIntyre still can't believe his career has taken him to a place where he needs to worry about such a vast global audience.

"I was a kid that got bullied at school. It just wasn't my worldview to imagine I could achieve such cool things," says McIntyre, who feels his past self had a lot to learn from Wolverine's resilience. The character's superpower isn't really his adamantium claws; it's his capacity to take a beating.

"Just keep pushing. That's what I like about Wolverine the most: No matter how many times he gets kicked down, he always finds a way to dust himself off and keep going. I want to have more of that in my life."