‘Bad Education’ Finally Gave Hugh Jackman an Oscar-Worthy Role

I very nearly didn’t recognize Hugh Jackman when, right before an episode of Westworld, I caught the trailer for Bad Education.

“Is that the Twin Peaks guy?” my partner asked. Based on the YouTube trailer comments for the new film—which debuted on HBO on Saturday—we weren’t the only ones thrown for a loop.

“Hugh Jackman took 30 pounds of age for this role,” noted one YouTube user.

Bad Education stars Jackman (and not Twin Peaks star Kyle MacLachlan, who is ten years Jackman’s senior) as Dr. Frank A. Tassone, the real-life superintendent who was caught stealing millions from his school district. It’s a whole new kind of character for Jackman. It’s the Wolverine star sans beard, sans mutant metal claws, and sans digitally-enhanced abs. It’s a stripped-down, aged-up Jackman. And it feels absolutely right.

The physical transformation came with some help from the makeup department, given that Jackman is a 51-year-old movie star and that Tassone was 60-year-old regular person when he was convicted of grand larceny in 2006. But Jackman’s role in Bad Education—which has already been lauded by many critics as the best performance of his career—goes beyond a brand new look. Frank Tassone is finally a dramatic character that Jackman give himself over to; which he does, with incredible results.

Frank Tassone is a complicated guy. Or at least, he is in this version of the story. Bad Education—directed by Corey Finley (Thoroughbreds), and written by Mike Makowsky, who was a middle school student at Tassone’s school district in Roslyn, New York, when Tassone was arrested in 2004—has plenty of sympathy for the guy, despite the fact that he stole millions of tax-payer dollars and more or less got away with it. (The real Tassone served less than a four-year sentence in prison, and still receives an annual six-figure pension.)

Some of that sympathy stems from the fact that Tassone is a closeted gay man. His only real moments of love and vulnerability—the scenes he shares with a former-student-turned-exotic-dancer played by Rafael Casal—happen behind closed doors. He lives with a man who is essentially his husband (played by Stephen Spinella), but tells his colleagues that his wedding ring is for his wife who died at a very young age. The year is 2004, Tassone is an ambitious man, and clearly, he felt he needed to keep that part of himself hidden away.

Then there’s the fact that Tassone really does want to make a difference. “If I wanted money, I would have gone to Wall Street,” he tells the school board president (played by Ray Romano) at the end of the film, and his words ring true. He listens to the parents. He encourages his students. He loves being an educator. He just also wanted to make money, and, unfortunately, making money and being an educator don’t mix in this country.

As great a movie as Logan is, seeing Jackman shed the rugged anti-hero shtick felt like a huge sigh of relief. There are some similarities between Jackman and Tassone—the actor spent a few years as a PE teacher before college, and he’s been shooting down rumors about his sexuality for many years, despite his 24-year marriage to Deborra-Lee Furness. The incredulous look Jackman gives Romano’s character when he tells Tassone it’s “an open secret”—a look that reminded me vividly of the white guy blinking meme—feels like a wink to the audience.

To be sure, playing someone you’re not is kinda the point of the whole “acting” thing. It certainly helps that Jackman absolutely nails the Long Island accent. And yet the real-life overlaps add a layer of authenticity to Frank Tassone; the kind of authenticity that gets awards buzz brewing. It’s an Oscar-worthy role to be sure, but, given that it’s an HBO film that didn’t release in theaters, Jackman would only be eligible for an Emmy. Unfortunately for Jackman, the future of the 2020 Emmys is currently as unclear as every other major event in light of the pandemic. But even if it doesn’t win him awards, Bad Education feels a shift in Jackman’s career, if he wants it to be.

Maybe Jackman would have gotten to a character like this sooner had he not been cast in X-Men back in 2000, a role he played for the next 15 years. Maybe he’d be counting his Oscars and featured on lists alongside Robert De Niro and Denzel Washington.

But I’m not so sure. For one thing, all those X-Men checks no doubt helped get Jackman to a place where he could be picky about his roles. For another, maybe Jackman, like Tassone, wasn’t yet ready to reveal to the world the vulnerability the comes with a great performance like this. Credit should be given to Finley, for casting Jackman for the role in the first place. Hollywood stars, especially ones who make millions of box-office dollars playing superheroes, can get stuck in a box. Hugh Jackman’s just made a new box for himself, and I certainly hope it’s a box he keeps pulling from.

Watch Bad Education on HBO