February 28, 2017
TAIPEI (AFP) - Actor Hugh Jackman has not turned his nose up at the chance to sample Taiwan's famous snack "stinky tofu" as he tours Taipei to promote his last film in the superhero "Wolverine" franchise.
Jackman and Patrick Stewart arrived in the Taiwanese capital over the weekend for the local premier of "Logan," which sees Wolverine reunited with his ailing father figure Professor X and introduced to Laura, the mutant daughter created in a Mexican lab.
Thousands of fans -- some dressed up as the blade-fingered superhero character -- thronged the landmark Taipei 101 skyscraper late Monday to see Jackman, who later ventured into the city armed with local food recommendations.
"We went to the night market last night. It was so much fun. We had stinky tofu ... It's not as stinky as I thought," Jackman told a press conference Tuesday.
Joking that he is "part Taiwanese" to explain his convincing pronunciation of "stinky tofu" in Mandarin, Jackman said his late night feast had also included another favourite Taiwanese snack -- skewers of chicken hearts.
Both actors were given Taiwanese puppets in the likeness of their X-Men characters.
"Logan" premiered at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this month and hit cinemas in Taiwan Tuesday ahead of its United States release on March 3.