Jodie Comer Admits She Didn't Recognize Hugh Jackman After His 'Striking' Transformation as Robin Hood (Exclusive)

'The Death of Robin Hood,' a reimagining of the classic outlaw legend opens in theaters on June 19

NEED TO KNOW

• Jodie Comer was shocked by Hugh Jackman’s unrecognizable transformation into a rugged, bearded Robin Hood on set
• The film reimagines Robin Hood as an older, weathered figure inspired by medieval ballads and classic Hollywood imagery
• Despite the dark tone, Comer and Jackman describe the Irish set as lighthearted and credit director Michael Sarnoski for the atmosphere

Jodie Comer needed a moment to recalibrate on the set of the gritty new medieval thriller The Death of Robin Hood.

For the 33-year-old actress, that moment came the first time she walked into the makeup trailer and didn't immediately recognize the man inside.

“I think you'd already begun filming that week and I arrived to do my makeup test,” she says to her famous costar during a joint interview with PEOPLE. “He was in the makeup bus fully made up and I was like, ‘Who's that?' And then I heard his voice and I was like, ‘Oh my God.' It was so striking.”

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The “who's that?” in question was Hugh Jackman, fully transformed into Robin Hood — mud-streaked, heavily bearded, and closer in appearance to a cave dweller than a clean-cut folk hero.

The Death of Robin Hood is a dark reimagining of the classic outlaw legend, with Jackman starring as an older, weathered version of Robin Hood drawn from the broader mythology of the medieval ballads.

Jackman, 57, admits the look went far beyond anything he could have grown in time for filming.

“I didn't have time to grow the beard, so that's fake,” he says, noting that the goal was to make his character feel “striking” and effectively unrecognizable.

A key part of the transformation came from longtime collaborators hairstylist Sean Flanigan and makeup artist Pamela Westmore, whose family has helped define Hollywood's Robin Hood imagery for generations. Their lineage stretches back to Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn, two actors who helped cement the character's classic screen look.

“Pretty cool, right?” Jackman says about the connection, noting that their work essentially helped define how Robin Hood has looked across eras.

Despite the film's brutal tone, both Jackman and Comer emphasize the atmosphere on set was anything but grim.

“No,” Comer says when asked if things feel dark between takes. “There's so much levity.” 

Jackman agrees, describing the Irish set as relaxed, collaborative, and often funny. “We were shooting in Ireland,” he says. “There's a lot of humor and a lot of love.”

The pair credit director Michael Sarnoski, who also directed the films Pig and A Quiet Place: Day One, for setting that tone. They describe him as someone who “doesn't take himself too seriously” and kept the environment light even as the material stayed dark.

Comer says the experience of filming the story's darker themes felt surprisingly meditative rather than draining. Her character often observes Jackman's Robin Hood as he moves through a transformation from hardened and guilt-ridden to something softer and more human.

“I was almost taking a step back and being witness to something,” she says.

The Death of Robin Hood is in theaters on June 19.