Although they were playing rival magicians in "The Prestige," Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale found at least one reason to stand united during the filming of the dramatic thriller: They're both superhero movie royalty.

Of course, Bale rejuvenated the Batman franchise -- under "Prestige" co-writer/director Christopher Nolan -- with "Batman Begins," and Jackman has slashed his way to the top as the steel-clawed Wolverine in the "X-Men" movies. So pairing them together in "The Prestige," at least for a short time, seemed surreal.

"We did have a few laughs about it, that's for sure," Jackman told me in a recent @ The Movies interview. "One day on the theater set we were sitting backstage and I remember saying, 'OK, Christian, let's talk contracts. What do you get on sequels?' We went on this fairly animated discussion for about 10 to 15 minutes about what we get.

"It's going to make my agent very nervous because Christian and I share the same agent," the Aussie-born actor added with a laugh. "It's one of those things you don't want your clients doing -- talking amongst themselves."

Of course, Jackman who just turned 38, has marked the X in more than one spot since the breakthrough role in the first chapter of the superhero trilogy in 2000 -- including his tour de force Tony Award-winning role as legendary song-and-dance man Peter Allen in "The Boy from Oz."

In a separate @ The Movies interview, Nolan told me that it was the combination of playing Wolverine, Allen and most importantly, his off-screen persona, that made him the perfect choice to Robert Angier -- a flamboyant Victorian age stage magician at deadly odds with brooding, mysterious Alfred Borden (Bale) in "The Prestige."

"I only knew Hugh's work through the 'X-Men' movies and one or two other things I'd seen him in," Nolan said. "I thought he had an extraordinary presence in those movies. But then when you meet him, he is so utterly unlike that character. It's a huge testament to his ability as a film actor.

"Combined with that, this is a guy whose reputation for stage work proceeds him, and I needed a guy to play Angier who could sell this very tricky notion in the script that he's not a great magician -- but boy can he sell tricks to an audience," Nolan added.

Also starring Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, David Bowie, Andy Serkis and Piper Perabo, "The Prestige" opens Friday in theaters nationwide.

The Turn
Jackman gets to run the gamut of emotions as Angier, who's forever changed by a personal tragedy shortly after "The Prestige" begins.

"I loved playing this character because he's very happy with his life in the beginning -- then he makes this gradual, but definite descent into this very intense, dark place," Jackman explained. "It's triggered in one way by this tragic loss and his anger over it."

The interesting thing is, Angier's hurt is eventually consumed by his competition with Borden to be the better magician. He knows deep inside that Borden is always one step ahead of him as professional -- and the fact that his rival may just have something to do with personal loss makes the challenge all the more intense.

"Under examination, I think the most dangerous thing about Angier is his ambition -- that ambition that keeps fueling that anger -- to the point where he shocks himself by forgetting about the reason he was angry in the first place," Jackman said. "He's forgotten there for a second what really was motivating that anger and hatred toward Borden. It began with his loss and later on, it just becomes his out-and-out competitiveness."

With a love of performing that dates back to his childhood in Australia, Jackman feels like his role in "The Prestige" was practically tailor-made for him. As far back as age 6, he recalled that he never got nervous standing up in front of people and making speeches, and by age 8, he starting etching out a career path -- but not on the sort of stage might think.

"I remember when I was very young seeing a TV evangelist," Jackman recalled with a laugh. "I remember thinking for a while that I was going to be a TV evangelist because this guy seemed so happy and having a good time, and the audience was just lapping it all up."

These days, Jackman hardly has to preach to get people's attention. Prior to "The Prestige," he basked in the summer blockbuster success of "X-Men: The Last Stand" and starred opposite Johansson in Woody Allen's comedy-mystery "Scoop." In November, Jackman has voice roles in the animated family comedies "Flushed Away" and "Happy Feet," and then crosses the boundaries of time in director Darren Aronofksy's dramatic sci-fi opus, "The Fountain."

Then, leaping to next year, Jackman is off to Australia to work with Nicole Kidman and "Moulin Rouge!" director Baz Luhrmann, and following that, he'll work on the "X-Men" prequel "Wolverine."

It may sound like Jackman is in the running to take over for James Brown as "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business."

But the actor, speaking like a true magician, doesn't look at it that way.

"It doesn't feel like hard work, that's the trick," Jackman beamed. "If I could have written a script of my career a few years ago, there's no way I could have imagined it being this good."