SEOUL — It’s been 13 long years since he first put on those adamantium claws, but Hugh Jackman still loves playing Wolverine.

“It’s hard to believe I’ve had this role for so long!” exclaimed the 44-year-old Australian actor at The Wolverine Press conference in Seoul today (July 15).

“I think it’s probably a good thing to play Wolverine for so many years because whatever anger is inside of me is spent on set,” the recent Best Actor Oscar nominee shared with a smile. “I’m very nice and calm at home. I’m not a method actor and apart from the mutton chops, Wolverine does not enter my house!”

But the multi-hyphenate who is known for his triple threat ability to sing, dance and act was quick to reiterate his gratitude for the part that cemented his place in comic book hero history.

“This character was the first American movie that I made, and it’s the foundation of the great opportunities that I had in the past 13 years,” he said. “Not only in this character but also in others. I’m very grateful for the part. Not only for what it has offered me, but also just because it’s one of the most interesting and most complex comic book characters out there.”

And the Golden Globe winner said that he has become used to those Wolverine claws these days (he infamously scratched himself by accident while on set in the early days portraying the X-Men mutant).

“I am a lot better with them now, thank goodness!” he replied with a laugh. “The original pair was real metal and razor sharp. I don’t know what they were thinking putting them in the hands of an actor! I stabbed myself a lot of the time. I even stabbed the double for Mystique, who after I stabbed her, put her arm in the air with blood running down saying, ‘I’ve just been stabbed by Wolverine!’ But yes, I’m a lot better at it now.

“Yes, I have taken them home, most famously for me, at the end of X-Men 2,” he confessed. “What happens truthfully, is that at the end of these movies, props and costumes just get stolen by people, because they want them for keepsakes. So I took my claws, because I thought someone was going to take them and I put them in my hand luggage.

“And then at the airport, obviously I get a security official who has never heard about the (X-Men) series, who then proceeded to calmly ask me why I had six knives in my bag. And I was like ‘No,I don’t have any knives ...’ And then I remembered and said, ‘Oh yes of course, they are just my claws!’ “I think he thought I was a little crazy and I had to go to the backroom to do some serious explaining,”

We’re guessing not everyone falls for those wild Wolverine charms.