Hugh Jackman - the complete man

 

I've had many favourite actors, but I've not really been so in love with any of them, at least not this way. I have immense love and respect for this man. The first time I saw him was when I watched "The Prestige" and "Kate and Leopold" -at this point, I just had a school girl crush on him, that just wouldn't go away. When I saw him in "Australia", I knew I was in love. Not just for his dashing looks, majestic gait and extremely charming ways. There was a certain honesty in his eyes, a confident, masculine and very admirable aura to him, the way he carried himself in whatever costume he wore - it just makes you fall hopelessly in love with him...and whatever role he played, he was incredibly convincing at it, especially when he played negative roles like in "Deception" and "The Scoop". In "Kate and Leopold", his character was so convincing, that I used his image when I read about handsome Dukes in historical romances, like those of Judith McNaught. 


Also, I find that every movie he has acted in is very good to watch, since we are watching a complete performer at work, and I guess we can tell that most of his movies have been carefully selected. I love each and every one of them, and have watched most of them repeatedly. Even in "The Stories of Lost Souls" that is a collection of short films, the part that he acted in wasn't boring or dull. He's so good at what he does that it seems to come very effortlessly, and his stage performances look very natural and unrehearsed, which I believe is also a great talent, in and of itself.


I also watched "Swordfish", "Someone Like You", "Real Steel", "Van Helsing", "The Fountain", "The Scoop", "Flushed Away", "Happy Feet", "Stories of Lost Souls", "Deception" and all the "X-men movies".

I watched X-men later on, so it wasn't only because of the Wolverine fever for me. I used to watch video clips of his interviews and  his stage performances, and woah...I'm beyond enchanted.

The "little big" things: 


Christened: Hugh Michael Jackman
DOB: 12th October 1968
Born in: Sydney, NSW (but of British decent)
Height: 6'3" (1.89m)
Family: last in a family of 5, has 2 sisters and 2 brothers, raised by his father since his parents divorced when he was only 8. He has a younger half sister, since his mother remarried and later on, moved back to England. (one of his paternal great-grandfathers was Greek)
Spouse: Deborra-Lee Furness
Children: Oscar, 11, Ava, 6 (both adopted)
First stage performance: 1985, in his school's production of "My Fair Lady" (a hobby)
First Girlfriend: Penny
Education: BA in Communications - he did a one-year drama course in his final year for additional credits. After his graduation, he did a one year course called "The Journey" at the Actors' Center in Sydney, after which he attended the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts of Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia, from which he graduated in 1994.
Employment: On the night of his final Academy graduation performance, Jackman received a phone call offering him a role on Correlli: "I was technically unemployed for thirteen seconds", he says.
After this, he starred in:
- a few TV Series
- 2 more movies, "The Paperback Hero" and "Erskinevile Kings"
After this, he travelled to America to audition for the role of Wolverine, a role for which, he was in fact, a whole foot taller, and, although his wife asked him not to take the role, he got the role 10 months after he had auditioned for it. 


He said: "Americans are the most generous country on the planet. I've worked in Europe, I've worked in Australia. There is no where else where you get absolutely no attitude for being a foreigner. If you do your job well, they embrace you.


People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" in 2008.


I agree...oh...do I so totally agree.

He is such a friendly celebrity, whose keyword would be "ease". Ease on stage, easy to talk to, ease in general. His charisma is just unbelievably enchanting. There hasn't been a single movie of his that I've missed, or any that I've not seen at least 5-10 times at least. I've also seen his clips many times, at least the ones that I've seen. I particularly enjoyed his performances at the Oscar awards and the Tony awards immensely. My biggest regret is that I couldn't go to his Broadway performances this time.
This is his Oscar performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Terhj8mjPwY

As a human being, his devotion to his wife and children despite his difficult childhood is beautiful to see. He is so easy going, friendly and sweet. In one particular interview, the host offered him some sweets from Australia, his homeland, and he wasn't shy - he was so happy to see the tray of sweets and then he didn't wait for anyone to tell him to start - he just dug in, telling the host about which ones had the typical taste, and which ones didn't. I honestly forgot, for a moment, that I was watching the extremely talented celebrity we know, and felt like a friend in his dining room. 

His wife, Deborra-Lee Furness is 13 years his senior, a famous Australian actress and the survivor of a particularly tragic car accident, from which she suffered burns and severe injuries. Hugh met Deborra when they were both starring on Australian TV show, Corelli in 1991. By then, she was an accomplished actress while it was just his first acting gig.

She spoke of how, at age 49, she had been resolute on the fact that she wouldn't date a man under 30, and definitely not an actor, but then, she meets Hugh Jackman, who knew, right from the start, that he had met his soulmate - he also admitted that he has had a crush on her for a very long time. Within 3 months of dating her, he started planning to propose, and he proposed to her in a very beautiful setting over a romantic dinner in a park, and in his own way - no clichees, no second thought, and till date, he appreciates and loves her. He says that being married to her is particularly rewarding because they fall deeper in love everyday. I think that, to hear a man say that is more than just beautiful.


Apparently they make their relationship work by not working at the same time, and Deborra also lets out that our favourite hero is a simple man at home. She says that he insists on helping around the house simply caz he was raised to do so. 

In interviews, he speaks of his son, Oscar, very fondly, as he would speak of his own, when Oscar is, in fact adopted. His daughter is also adopted, her name, Ava. Both of them were adopted after they suffered 2 miscarriages that they both say was the most darkest times of their lives.

He embraces his role as a father so completely, and says that he wants to give them a safe, secure childhood, unlike what he had after his mother left them when he was only 8. He's most definitely a very "hands-on" dad.










Becoming a father, I think it inevitably changes your perspective of life. I don't get nearly enough sleep. And the simplest things in life are completely satisfying. I find you don't have to do as much, like you don't go on as many outings.

In an interview, he spoke of how his 8 year old son uses his fame to hit on 14 year old girls,  about how he bought his son a wolverine punching bag and how, in a game, his son resolutely supports the team that opposed any team he(Hugh) chose to support.


He also admits to things like these: 


He still gets excited when he stays in posh hotels and flies first class because fame came later on for him.

He said: "I still jump up and down on the bed when I go to five-star hotels, and I get so excited when I go into first class on a plane that I say: 'Woo hoo!'" 

He added: "It didn't happen until I was 30, so none of it's lost on me."

He had to work very hard in drama school, as acting didn't come easily to him. 

"I always loved acting but when I started at drama school I was like the dunce of the class. It just wasn’t coming right to me. Everyone was cooler, everyone seemed more likely to succeed, everyone seemed more natural at it and in retrospect I think that is good. I think it is good to come from behind as an actor. I think it is good to go into an audition thinking 'Man I’ve got to be at my best to get this gig."

His love for his wifey grows everyday:

"I have a terrific marriage, but unlike a lot of relationships where they ebb and flow, no matter what happens you fall deeper and deeper in love every day. It's kind of the best thing that can happen to you. It's thrilling."

"Deb's amazing, nothing fazes her. She doesn't have an ounce of jealousy and there's no competition between us. I've always been romantic - I love Deb more every day."

He dresses up as a sensible stock broker since Deborra fancied a sensible man in finance when she had decided not to end up with a man who was into the same profession as she was in, and although she's been married to Hugh Jackman since 1996, the fantasy remains, and her husband helps her live it out. 


How sweet. He's smart, so very talented and yet so simple,down to earth and so very real.
I also admire his sense of humour and his accent, of course.




The main reason why I love him is because I feel that my soul resonates with his ideals, especially in this one belief that he and I seem to share: 


"To get down to the quick of it, respect motivates me—not success"


(I haven't met or heard of anyone else verbalizing this one thing, that I so strongly believe in as well, so I really felt this instant connection as I read this quote)