Tom Cruise blocked Dougray Scott from playing Wolverine

Tom Cruise blocked Dougray Scott from playing Wolverine in the X-Men franchise.

The 57-year-old actor and Dougray, 54, worked together on Mission: Impossible 2 in 2000, and after the movie went over its initial schedule, Tom insisted Dougray stuck around to finish the project, meaning he lost out on the iconic role to Hugh Jackman.

He said: "Tom Cruise didn't let me do it. We were doing Mission Impossible and he was like, 'You've got to stay and finish the film', and I said I will, but I'll go and do that as well. For whatever reason, he said I couldn't.

"He was a very powerful guy. Other people were doing everything to make it work."

Despite this, Dougray doesn't harbour any bitterness towards Hugh, praising what he did with the character.

He told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: "I love what Hugh did with it. He's a lovely guy."

Dougray starred in a number of big-budget Hollywood movies around the turn of the century, such as Deep Impact.

But he subsequently turned his back on many mainstream projects, and he doesn't have any regrets about the decision he's taken.

He said: "I was always interested in bettering myself as an actor, you know, rather than [being] box office."

Dougray also insisted he's never been motivated by fame - and his desire to find "good projects" has seen him move away from Hollywood films.

He said: "Could I have been more successful? Yeah of course. But fame was never something I ever coveted. I just wanted good projects."