New kind of action for Hugh Jackman of the set of “The Greatest Showman”

After seven years of development, planning and production, The Greatest Showman will hit screens December.

Even after nine films as Wolverine, playing the godfather of the modern circus was a definite challenge for Hugh Jackman. The movie is set in the mid-1800s and tells the life story of P.T. Barnum rise from childhood poverty to his successful launch of a New York circus.

The movie starring Michelle Williams as Barnum’s wife charity, was supposed to be a biopic, however, that changed as it was decided that song and dance numbers will be added to the film. That’s essentially how the biographical movie, turned into a musical. In charge of the sound are La La Land’s Oscar winning songwriters Benj Hasek and Justin Paul.

Jackman was somewhat surprised at the amount of action that took place on the set of The Greatest Showman. The re-creation of the iconic circus also stars Zendaya as a trapeze artist. After training for months, Zendaya perfected her skills to a point that Jackman was completely wowed by her.

“Before I went up [in the trapeze] he goes, ‘Zendaya, you’re a badass,'” she says. “How many people have Hugh say, ‘You’re a badass’? Nobody gets that!”

The Greatest Showman opens in theaters on Christmas Day.