Pan star Hugh Jackman has revealed that playing the role of pirate Blackbeard did wonders for marital relations.

"From my wife's perspective, she said: 'I think this is one of the sexiest characters you've played'," Jackman confessed, reminiscing about the shoot.

"It was a good summer, last year. Here they talk about the summer of '76, I talk about the summer of 2014."

Jackman has been married to actress Deborra-Lee Furness, 59, since 1996, with whom he has two adopted children. The summer of 1976 was the hottest summer in the UK since records began.

The actor plays the ruthless pirate in the film, set in Neverland, which explores the magical beginnings of Peter Pan - the boy who never grew up.

Speaking at a press conference with co-stars Garrett Hedlund, Rooney Mara and Levi Miller, as well as director Joe Wright and producer Paul Webster, he joked that his 15-year-old son Oscar had dubbed him "black-and-white beard".

But despite any white hairs coming through, the 46-year-old actor said he feels young at heart.

"Age is more about how you feel about life than the chronological age or whether you have a black-and-white beard or wrinkles," he said. "That sense of possibility and hope which is what Pan is all about, what Neverland is about, which is really: stay young. Have that glint in your eyes, see possibility, see hope. Life is an adventure, life can be fantastic. And that's our choice really.

"And the truth is I'm lucky, I'm an actor. My job is to be a kid, and I probably maturity-wise stopped at around the age of eight or nine, and I'm happy to stay there."

The actor, who has previously starred in Les Miserables and in the X-Men franchise as Wolverine, also revealed he had shaved his head for the role out of "laziness" after the hair and make-up department offered to put him in a bald cap - which he would take 45 minutes every day.

"45 minutes of sleep - or a bald cap?" he recalled. "I said: 'Give me the clippers.'"

Pan is released in UK cinemas on October 16.