Hugh Jackman understands The Greatest Showman soundtrack backlash – Music News

Hugh Jackman fully understands the backlash surrounding the continued chart success of his soundtrack for The Greatest Showman, because his own family is fed up of the tunes.

The songs featured in the star’s movie musical have become huge hits with fans ever since its release in December, 2017, with the album still flying high in charts worldwide, including in his native Australia, the U.S., and U.K., where it enjoyed a non-consecutive 28-week run at number one.

However, some music fans have come to despise the soundtrack’s ongoing popularity, with many voicing their opinions on social media – and Jackman doesn’t blame them.

“It’s not my world, I’m not a recording artist,” he tells NME about dominating Britain’s charts with his movie tie-in. “I’ve done a few cast albums, so my kids and even my wife are getting so sick of it – they’re like, ‘It’s the 20th week at number one!'”

Despite fielding tweets from disgruntled Twitter users, the actor, who portrayed American showman P.T. Barnum in the movie, admits he still gets a kick out of the film’s ongoing success.

“I’m still excited about it,” he smiles. “If I invented chocolate ice cream and people came up to me and said ‘I hate chocolate’, then alright – that’s OK. There’s loads of people who love it. In the end, I’m a storyteller. I’m an actor who tells stories. Some people didn’t like The Greatest Showman and that’s fine with me.”

“It meant a lot to a lot of people,” Hugh continues. “If you spend a lot of time on something and nobody likes it, then that’s a little difficult because you think ‘Wow, I’ve really gone off track here. I really thought this would connect and it didn’t.’

“Of course people are sniffy; it’s quite commercial, it’s down the middle, there are people who wanted us to do different things with the character than what we were doing.”

The Greatest Showman also starred Michelle Williams, Zac Efron, and Zendaya, who all feature on the Grammy-winning soundtrack.