But that was then. Would he say yes now?

Hugh Jackman -- one of the world's greatest creations -- is now in promotion mode for "The Greatest Showman." Variety has a great new feature on the "Logan" star, who talks about his career leading up to the "X-Men" films, and his desire to not be typecast. On that note, did you know that he could've been James Bond when Pierce Brosnan was leaving, before Daniel Craig was cast? He was at least in the running, approached sometime around 2002.

Jackman explained to Variety why he felt the need to pass:

"I was about to do 'X-Men 2' and a call came from my agent asking if I'd be interested in Bond. I just felt at the time that the scripts had become so unbelievable and crazy, and I felt like they needed to become grittier and real. And the response was: 'Oh, you don't get a say. You just have to sign on.' I was also worried that between Bond and 'X-Men,' I'd never have time to do different things."

Doing different things -- like this new P.T. Barnum musical -- is very important to him. He said, between "X-Men 3" and the first Wolverine movie, people wanted him to play the hero role exclusively and it made him feel "a little bit claustrophobic." He's since diversified his filmography with roles on stage, hosting the Tonys, winning an Emmy for hosting the Tonys, and going dark in films like "Prisoners."

It does seem like the 49-year-old actor has proven himself enough, and the Bond franchise has potentially evolved enough, that he might reconsider shaking some martinis after Daniel Craig's final movie. Give it some thought?

"The Greatest Showman" opens in theaters December 20th.

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