Noted heterosexual Hugh Jackman upset some locals at a sacred hot springs in Japan by “accidentally” neglecting to cover up his little X-man.
The Aussie hunk was taking a break from filming The Wolverine at the hot springs, where he mistook the horrified looks of spectators for some sort of cultural disconnect…or something. News.com.au reports:
“The place is separated male and female and they hand you a towel, a small washcloth and there are eight different types of tubs with heats of different temperatures…I’m getting so hot and I’m using the towel they gave me to dip into the cold water and put it on my head and I was getting very strange looks from everybody.
“This was at the base of Mount Fuji and I was the only white person there. I thought, ‘Maybe this isn’t cool and I’m not allowed to be there’. I was feeling uncomfortable and finally this guy in the tub grunts and points to my head and then grunts and points to my private parts. Finally I realized the towel was meant to be covering my privates and I’d spent about an hour just waltzing around this place with this thing in one hand and a beer in my other hand!”
Well if you’re going to be walking around with your “thing” in one hand, you should probably expect someone to take offense. Or, if you’re fellow noted heterosexual steam-lover John Travolta, at least take a knee.
Tackle
So at 6’2 and over 190lbs, Hugh Jackman has a tiny x-man. But he does have other things going for him…
Wilbready
Hugh Jackman is not 6’2″. My partner met him in New York a few years back and he is about 5’5″ or so.
RomanHans
I think Mr. Jackman is terrific (and gorgeous), but this is a clear case of going to a foreign country and doing whatever the f*** you want. I mean, there’s a reason they’re called “modesty towels.”
Homophile
That’s odd, the hot springs I visited in Japan all of the locals were nude and there were no “modesty towels”. Must of been the one he was at.
fredo777
He wouldn’t have to be modest at my sauna.
I don’t have one, of course, but I’d be happy to run my shower + keep the shower curtain open.
Tackle
@Wilbready: OMG! Only 5’5 or so? I’m surprised. I’m sure I read online about him being 6’2.
MikeE
@Wilbready: Hugh Jackman is 6’2. You’re just being a bitchy queen.
fredo777
Nonsense. Hugh Jackman is not 5’5″.
MikeE
photo of Hugh Jackman standing next to Russel Crowe.
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2147725568/nm0413168
Crowe is 5’11.
Jackman is obviously taller than Crowe.
Gigi Gee
@Tackle: Here’s a clip of Hugh on Ellen. She’s quite small, maybe around 5’2″ and he’s quite a bit taller than her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUqwZQDQB1Q
JHop
@Homophile: Very true. I lived in Japan for 3 yrs with my Japanese boyfriend. I never once saw a “modesty towel” being used. Most people would stare but that is only because they rarely see a white guy in a onsen (hot springs).
marc sfe
@Wilbready: He is in fact 6’2″, or 187 cm take your pick. I don’t know who your partner met but it wasn’t Mr Jackman. Get your facts in order before writing.
Tackle
@Gigi Gee @Mike E: and the rest. Thanks for the videos and pic links proving that Hugh is not 5’5.
RomanHans
@Homophile: @JHop: “Modesty towel” is what they call the little washcloths you get when you enter. You’re supposed to casually hold it in front of your bits when you walk around, and (another thing Jackman got wrong) never let it get wet.
I only found 9,290 Google references to modesty towels in onsens, but here’s a good starting point: http://suibokuhirafu.com/onsens
Wilbready
Well, excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse the fuck out of me! I did, in fact, make an error in Mr. Jackman’s size. My partner is 6’1″ and he may have been wearing dress shoes with a thicker heel than normal (not), but he still looked DOWN to Hugh. Was Hugh slouching? I cannot say. Was Paul (my partner) reaching for the sky? I doubt it. They were, however in an elevator and Paul said Hugh was very personable and professional and that he even gave Paul a hug of friendship. Paul is a performer and they struck a conversation over Hugh’s performance on stage. It was a highlight of Paul’s trip to New York.
Brian
Hugh Jackman’s career is clearly being driven by his marketing team. Modesty towel? Yeah, right.
He reminds me of that other effeminate Aussie,Peter Allen. Is Hugh’s “wife” still annoyed about this?
CaptainFabulous
@Wilbready: I have it on excellent authority that your boyfriend Paul is actually 6’6″.
Wilbready
Thank you, Captain Fabulou
Wilbready
Take two:
Thank you, Captain Fabulous! In my book, he is a giant with a big heart and love as deep as the oceans!
mpwaite
The majority of actors are actually quite short. Between 5’5″ to 5’9″.. That’s why they have perfect bodies. The shorter you are the easier it is to build muscle; when you’re taller, your muscle is more elongated to short muscle which is more compact; making your body look perfect. Not saying they’re aren’t tall actors, however, the shorter out number they taller.
fredo777
@Wilbready: I could be wrong, but I suspect that CaptainFabulous is your boyfriend.
#EncyclopediaBrown
DarkZephyr
@RomanHans: Never let it get wet? Why?
fredo777
Has anyone else pondered the possibility that Hugh got cross looks b/c he was showing off a big ol’ johnson?
I’d like to think so, at least.
rowanmikaio
Ok so I see two big things that he’s doing wrong.
First and foremost is not that he got the towel wet, per se, but that he dipped the towel into the hot spring. As far as I have seen, Japanese are very particular about refraining from doing things that dirty the hot spring. That’s why they take care to wash properly before they enter. So it doesn’t matter that the towel got wet, but that the towel got wet in the hot spring, which polluted the hot spring. If, for example, he had used the showers to get his towel wet, it really wouldn’t matter.
Also, I’ve never seen anyone drinking anything in a hot spring, and especially not alcohol. I don’t know if there’s a particular rule about it, but I can imagine that it rankled sensibilities on both counts because both drinking and alcohol have the potential to dirty the hot spring as well.
But I’ve never had anyone give me cross looks for walking around without my modesty towel. And even more awkward, I’ve had people who afterwards commented on my junk in mixed company. I doubt that was the problem.
Alan down in Florida
Where’s the paparazzi when you need them?
p-candotorg
Big deal. My mother was married to a Japanese for six years. First time I had underage sex, I was 13, with other men (cleverly guided into the situation by an adult) was in the room of a hot spring hotel in Japan with the father of our hosts. He paid two Filipino boys (no offense meant, I love Asian men and am married to one) to service us in our rooms for a start and than took it all the way further for himself. He had called the reception for the service.
Elderly ladies literally pushed the boys into our room. And yes everyone gets washed and cleaned up BEFORE entering any hot spring. And that was in the 70s already.
Beside that being naked in NO big deal in most of Japan. I have sat many times with an entire family and my mother etc in a big bath when I was a teenager. And yes my mother sent me out when by accident I got an erection while stepping into one bath. The same bath were my “instructor” played with me 2m from my mothers spot. Privileged Japanese have big family bath designed in the most elegant ways and it’s an honor to be invited to share.
DawnTrans
@Wilbready: I think your BF may have been wearing Loubotines
According to Wiki (and other sites)
Jackman, at 1.89m (6 ft 2.5 inches),[22] stands 30 cm taller than Wolverine, who is said in the original comic book to be 5 feet 3 inches (1.60 m).[23] Hence, the filmmakers were frequently forced to shoot Jackman at unusual angles or only from the waist up to make him appear shorter than he actually is, and his co-stars wore platform soles. Jackman was also required to add a great deal of muscle for the role, and in preparing for the fourth film in the series, he bench-pressed over 136 kg (300 lb).[24]