Netflix’s new White House murder mystery from Shonda Rhimes, The Residence, features a running joke about A-list star Hugh Jackman, but is the Wolverine actor actually in the series?
Is Hugh Jackman in ‘The Residence’?
The entire plot of The Residence revolves around a State Dinner that includes some of Australia’s top political figures as the United States works to repair its relationship with the country. Plus, it’s not only political figures in attendance, but also some of the biggest stars from Down Under like Kylie Minogue and Hugh.
While viewers have no problem recognizing Kylie from her performance on stage to her ongoing request to stay in a specific bedroom in the White House, Hugh is much more elusive. Even though guests and employees at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue mention the Greatest Showman star on multiple occasions – from charming other attendees to teaching tap dancing lessons – Hugh’s face is never shown throughout all eight episodes.
That’s because Hugh doesn’t actually appear in the hilarious whodunit. Instead, his likeness was played by body doubles Ben Bigler and Justin Ellis Johnson.
‘The Residence’ Creator Explains the Absence of Hugh Jackman
Paul William Davies, the mastermind behind The Residence, admitted that he actually tried to get Hugh to appear in the series, but the timing was never right.
“We did try [to cast him], and he responded in a way that was very sweet and apologetic,” Paul told TVLine in an interview published on March 20, 2025. “And he has nothing to apologize for. He’s Hugh Jackman! He’s busy. It just didn’t work.”
Instead, Paul decided to embrace Hugh’s absence and turn it into a joke for viewers.
“I thought, you know what, I’ll do this in a way that’s fun and kind of leans into it,” Paul explained. “It was a bit of a gamble, but I had fun with it, and I think we all kind of just embraced it.”
Kylie Minogue Originally Had a Smaller Part
While Hugh wasn’t able to make a cameo in The Residence, Kylie was more than happy to come on board. Paul took a moment to explain how her role in the series grew after she agreed to take part.
“I mean, just incredibly blessed that she was willing to do it. I settled on Australia early on. I thought it would be a fun group of folks to have and I liked the idea that there was this tension with Australia, which isn’t really a thing, but to me, it seemed delightful. Immediately I was like, who would be the kind of iconic Australian musical guest? It was Kylie,” Paul said during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on March 21, 2025.
He added, “There’s a couple of really funny, kind of interesting, real stories about musical guests, or different folks at State Dinners who didn’t show up and were late or whatever. Like with so much of the show, I drew on some real history [with] the idea that Kylie was, like a last-minute person that was actually at the dinner, but was asked to perform. But she was game for all that. Once she came on to do it, she was game for more. So I wrote more and more for her. She’s Kylie, but she’s an actress. She’s got great comedic timing. She’s just great. She was so much fun!”
