Hugh Jackman was only cast as Wolverine because Tom Cruise denied his Mission: Impossible II co-star Dougray Scott the role.

The 57-year-old actor and Scott, 54, collaborated on Mission: Impossible 2 in 2000, and as the film went over budget, Cruise asked Scott to stay on to finish it, resulting in his losing the legendary part to Hugh Jackman.

“Tom Cruise didn’t let me do it,” Scott confirmed in a recent interview with The Daily Telegraph.

“We were doing Mission: Impossible and he was like, ‘You’ve got to stay and finish the film’ and I said ‘I will, but I’ll go and do that as well’. For whatever reason he said I couldn’t.

“He was a very powerful guy. Other people were doing everything to make it work.”

In the John Woo-directed film, Scott played villain Sean Ambrose, who memorably began with Cruise free-climbing on a vertical rock face in the Moab desert (though he did a harness, there was no safety net beneath).

Despite the fact that Jackman finally got the part, Scott had nothing but praise for him. He said, “I love what Hugh did with (the Wolverine character). He’s a lovely guy.”

Around the turn of the century, Dougray starred in a number of big-budget Hollywood films, including ‘Deep Impact.’

However, he has since turned his back on a number of mainstream enterprises, and he has no regrets about his decision.

‘Rather than [being] box office,’ he remarked, ‘I was always interested in bettering myself as an actor.’

Scott also said that fame has never driven him, and that his desire to work on worthwhile projects has led him away from Hollywood films.

He said: Could I have been more successful? Yeah, of course. But fame was never something I ever coveted. I just wanted good projects.

Scott is presently starring in the American television series Batwoman.

Batwoman stars Ruby Rose, Rachel Skarsten, Meagan Tandy, Camrus Johnson, Dougray Scott, Elizabeth Anweis, and Nicole Kang and was created by Caroline Dries and developed by Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television. The CW broadcasts the show on Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.