`Les Miserables` was more physical than `X-Men` films

Los Angeles: Hugh Jackman had to spent three hours in the gym and depend on a carbohydrate free diet to portray lean Jean Valjean in his latest film `Les Miserables`.

Valjean is depicted as a gaunt prisoner in the opening act of Tom Hooper`s movie musical, adapted from Victor Hugo`s much loved classic of the same name. Jackman, who gained fame for his toned body in the `X-Men` series, found it tougher to achieve the look, Vulture reported. "Weirdly, this was almost more physical in a way than an X-Men movie! I was spending even longer in the gym -- like three hours in the gym -- because I needed to be as emaciated as possible, but still keep some muscle on for Jean Valjean. "He`s actually written as an ox of a man, so I had to eat seven times a day with no carbohydrates, but then you had the exercise. I`d wake up and do 45 minutes of (cardio) on an empty stomach, eat something, go to the gym, do a vocal warm-up, and then after lunch I`d go back to the gym again. Otherwise, I`d just become skin and bones," Jackman said. Muscles are back again for Jackman as he prepares to shoot `The Wolverine`. PTI