Hugh Jackman

Hugh Jackman

Jackman at the X-Men Origins: Wolverine premiere in April 2009
Born Hugh Michael Jackman
12 October 1968 (1968-10-12) (age 42)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation Actor
Years active 1994–present
Spouse Deborra-Lee Furness
(1996–present)

Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre and television.

Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters. He is well known from his role as Wolverine in the X-Men series, in addition to his leads in Kate & Leopold, Van Helsing, The Prestige, and Australia. Jackman is a singer, dancer, and actor in stage musicals, and won a Tony Award for his role in The Boy from Oz.

In November 2008, Open Salon named Hugh Jackman one of the sexiest men alive.[1] Later that same month, People magazine named Jackman "Sexiest Man Alive."[2]

A three-time host of the Tony Awards, winning an Emmy for one of these appearances, Jackman also hosted the 81st Academy Awards on 22 February 2009.[3]

Contents

Early life

Jackman was born in Sydney, New South Wales, the youngest of five children of English parents Chris Jackman and Grace Watson, and the second child to be born in Australia (he also has a younger half sister).[4][5] His parents divorced when he was eight, and he remained with his accountant father and siblings, while his mother moved back to England.[6] As a child, Jackman liked the outdoors, spending a lot of time at the beach and on camping trips and vacations all over Australia. He wanted to see the world: "I used to spend nights looking at atlases. I decided I wanted to be a chef on a plane. Because I'd been on a plane and there was food on board, I presumed there was a chef. I thought that would be an ideal job."[7]

Jackman went to primary school at Pymble Public School and later attended the all-boys Knox Grammar School, where he starred in its production of My Fair Lady in 1985 and became the captain of the School in 1986.[8] Following graduation, he spent a gap year working at Uppingham School in England. On his return, he studied at the University of Technology, Sydney, graduating in 1991 with a BA in Communications.[9] After obtaining his BA, Jackman completed the one-year course "The Journey" at the Actors' Centre in Sydney.[4] About studying acting full-time, he stated, "It wasn't until I was 22 that I ever thought about my hobby being something I could make a living out of. As a boy, I'd always had an interest in theater. But the idea at my school was that drama and music were to round out the man. It wasn't what one did for a living. I got over that. I found the courage to stand up and say, 'I want to do it'."[7]

After completing "The Journey", he was offered a role on the popular soap opera Neighbours but turned it down[10] to attend the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts of Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia, from which he graduated in 1994.[11]

Career

Early stage, film, and television work

On the night of his final Academy graduation performance, Jackman got a phone call offering him a role on Correlli: "I was technically unemployed for thirteen seconds." Correlli, devised by Australian actress Denise Roberts, was a 10-part drama series on ABC, Jackman's first major professional job, and where he met his future wife Deborra-Lee Furness: "Meeting my wife was the greatest thing to come out of it."[7] The show lasted only one season.

After Correlli Jackman went on the stage in Melbourne. In 1996, Jackman played Gaston in the local Walt Disney production of Beauty and the Beast, and Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard. During his stage musical career in Melbourne, he starred in the 1998 Midsumma festival cabaret production Summa Cabaret. He also hosted Melbourne's Carols by Candlelight and Sydney's Carols in the Domain.

Jackman's early film work includes Erskineville Kings and Paperback Hero (1999), and his television work includes Law of the Land, Halifax f.p., Blue Heelers, and Banjo Paterson's The Man from Snowy River.

International stardom

Oklahoma!

Jackman became known outside of Australia in 1998, when he played the leading role of Curly in the Royal National Theatre's acclaimed stage production of Oklahoma!, in London's West End. The performance earned him an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. Jackman said," I totally felt like it can't get any better than this. On some level that production will be one of the highlights of my career."[7] He also starred in the 1999 film version of the same stage musical, which has been screened in many countries.

X-Men

In 2000, Jackman was cast as Wolverine in Bryan Singer's X-Men, replacing Dougray Scott. His co-stars include Patrick Stewart, James Marsden, Famke Janssen, and Ian McKellen. According to a CBS interview in November 2006, Jackman's wife Deborra-Lee Furness told him not to take the role, a comment she later told him she was glad he ignored.

Wolverine was tough for Jackman to portray because he had few lines, but a lot of emotion to convey in them. To prepare, he watched Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry movies and Mel Gibson in Road Warrior. "Here were guys who had relatively little dialogue, like Wolverine had, but you knew and felt everything. I'm not normally one to copy, but I wanted to see how these guys achieved it."[7]

Jackman was adamant about doing his own stunts for the movie. "We worked a lot on the movement style of Wolverine, and I studied some martial arts. I watched a lot of Mike Tyson fights, especially his early fights. There's something about his style, the animal rage, that seemed right for Wolverine. I kept saying to the writers, 'Don't give me long, choreographed fights for the sake of it. Don't make the fights pretty."[7]

Jackman also had to get used to wearing Wolverine's claws. "Every day in my living room, I'd just walk around with those claws, to get used to them. I've got scars on one leg, punctures straight through the cheek, on my forehead. I'm a bit clumsy. I'm lucky I didn't tell them that when I auditioned."[7]

Jackman, at 6'2½ (1.89 m),[12] stands a foot taller than Wolverine, who is said in the original comic book to be 5' 3".[13] Hence, the filmmakers were frequently forced to shoot Jackman at unusual angles or only from the waist up to make him appear shorter than he actually is, and his co-stars wore platform soles. Jackman was also required to add a great deal of muscle for the role, and in preparing for the fourth film in the series, he bench-pressed over 300 pounds.[14] An instant star upon the film's release, Jackman later reprised his role in 2003's X-Men 2, 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which was released May 1, 2009.

2001

Jackman starred as Leopold in the 2001 romantic comedy film Kate & Leopold, a role for which he received a Best Actor Golden Globe nomination. Jackman plays a Victorian English duke who accidentally time-travels to 21st-century Manhattan, where he meets Kate (Meg Ryan), a cynical advertising executive.

In 2001, Jackman also starred in the action/drama Swordfish with John Travolta and Halle Berry. This was the second time Jackman worked with Berry, and the two have worked together twice more in the X-Men movies.

He also hosted an episode of "Saturday Night Live" in 2001.[15]

Stage 2002–2009

In 2002, Jackman sang the role of Billy Bigelow in the musical Carousel in a special concert performance at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke's.

In 2004, Jackman won the Tony Award and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical for his 2003–2004 Broadway portrayal of Australian songwriter and performer Peter Allen in the hit musical The Boy from Oz, which he also performed in Australia in 2006.

In addition, Jackman hosted the Tony Awards in 2003, 2004, and 2005, garnering positive reviews. His hosting of the 2004 Tony Awards earned him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performer in a Variety, Musical or Comedy program.

Jackman co-starred with Daniel Craig on Broadway at the Schoenfeld Theatre in a limited engagement of the play A Steady Rain, opening in previews on 10 September 2009 and closing on 6 December 2009.[16]

Films 2003–2008

After 2003's X2: X-Men United, Jackman played the title role of monster killer Gabriel Van Helsing in the 2004 film Van Helsing. Jackman and the film were noted in Bruce A. McClelland's book "Slayers and Their Vampires: A Cultural History of Killing the Dead".

Jackman was one of the choices to play James Bond in 2006's Casino Royale, but eventually lost out to Daniel Craig.[17]

Jackman starred in the 2006 film The Prestige, directed by Christopher Nolan and co-starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, and Scarlett Johansson. As Robert Angier, Jackman portrayed a magician who built up a rivalry with contemporary Alfred Borden in attempt to one-up each other in the art of deception. Jackman stated that his main reason for doing The Prestige was to work with the musician David Bowie, who played scientist Nikola Tesla.

Jackman portrayed three different characters in Darren Aronofsky's science-fiction film The Fountain: Tommy Creo, a neuroscientist, who's torn between his wife, Izzi (Rachel Weisz) who is dying of a brain tumor, and his work at trying to cure her; Captain Tomas Creo, a Spanish Conquistador in 1532 Seville; and a future astronaut, Tom, travelling to a golden nebula in an eco-spacecraft seeking to be reunited with Izzi. Jackman said The Fountain was his most difficult film thus far due to the physical and emotional demands of the part.

Jackman also starred in Woody Allen's 2006 film Scoop opposite Scarlett Johansson. He rounded out 2006 with two animated films: Happy Feet, directed by George Miller, in which he voiced the part of Memphis, an emperor penguin; and Flushed Away, where Jackman supplied the voice of a rat named Roddy who ends up being flushed down a family's toilet into the London sewer system. Flushed Away co-starred Kate Winslet and Ian McKellen (Jackman's fourth time working with him).

In 2007, Jackman produced and guest-starred in the television musical-dramedy series Viva Laughlin, which was canceled by CBS after two episodes.

Jackman's 2008 movies included Deception (which he starred in and produced), Uncle Jonny, and Australia.

Australia

In 2008, director Baz Luhrmann cast Jackman to replace Russell Crowe as the male lead in his much-publicized epic film, Australia, which co-starred Nicole Kidman. The movie was released in late November 2008 in Australia and the U.S.

Jackman played a tough, independent cattle drover, who reluctantly helps an English noblewoman in her quest to save both her philandering husband's Australian cattle station and the half-caste Aboriginal child she finds there.

Of the movie, Jackman said, "This is pretty much one of those roles that had me pinching myself all the way through the shoot. I got to shoot a big-budget, shamelessly old-fashioned romantic epic set against one of the most turbulent times in my native country's history, while, at the same time, celebrating that country's natural beauty, its people, its cultures.... I'll die a happy man knowing I've got this film on my CV."[18]

Future projects

Production company

In 2005, Jackman joined with longtime assistant John Palermo to form a production company, Seed Productions, whose first project was Viva Laughlin in 2007. Jackman's wife Deborra-Lee Furness is also involved in the company, and Palermo had three rings made with a "unity" inscription for himself, Furness, and Jackman.[30] Jackman said, "I'm very lucky in the partners I work with in my life, Deb and John Palermo. It really works. We all have different strengths. I love it. It's very exciting."[31]

The Fox-based Seed label has grown in size to include execs Amanda Schweitzer, Kathryn Tamblyn, Allan Mandelbaum and Joe Marino, with Alana Free operating the Sydney-based production office whose goal is to mount modest-budget films to harness local talent in Jackman's home country.

Other interests

Charity work

As a philanthropist, Jackman is a longtime proponent of microcredit — the extension of very small loans to impoverished prospective entrepreneurs in undeveloped countries. He is a vocal supporter of Muhammad Yunus, microcredit pioneer and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner.[32][33][34]

Jackman is a global advisor of the Global Poverty Project, for which he narrated a documentary;[35] and he and the project's founder Hugh Evans visited the UN for the cause in 2009.[36] Jackman hosted a preview of the Global Poverty Project Presentation in New York together with Donna Karran, Lisa Fox and his wife Debbora-lee .[37] He is also a World Vision ambassador and participated in the climate week NYC ceremony on September 21, 2009.[38][39]

Jackman supports The Art of Elysium[40] and the MPTV Fund Foundation,[41] and he and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness are patrons of the Bone Marrow Institute in Australia.[42] Jackman also narrated the 2008 documentary about global warming, The Burning Season.[43]

Jackman also uses his Twitter account for charity. On April 14, 2009 Jackman posted on his Twitter page that he would donate $100,000 to one individual's favorite non profit organization.[44] On April 21, 2009 he revealed his decision to donate $50,000 to Charity:Water and $50,000 to Operation of Hope.[45][46]

Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig made a unique place for themselves in the history of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS fundraising 8 December 2009, when it was announced that they had raised $1,549,953 in the 21st annual Gypsy of the Year competition, from six weeks of curtain appeals at their hit Broadway drama, A Steady Rain.[47]

Sports and other activities

Jackman has shown keen interest in a variety of sports. In high school, he played rugby union and cricket, took part in high jumping and was on the swimming team.[48] He also enjoys basketball and kayaking.[49] He has also expressed an interest in football, committing his support to Norwich City FC.

Jackman is a longtime fan and supporter of the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, a NRL club based in Sydney's north.[50] He sang the national anthem at the 1999 NRL Grand Final.[51] Hugh also revealed on Sky Sports Soccer AM that he was a Norwich City F.C Fan.[52]

Jackman can also play the piano,[53] does yoga every day,[54] and has been a member of the School of Practical Philosophy since 1992.[55]

Personal life

Jackman has two older brothers and two older sisters, as well as a half-sister from when his mother re-married.

Jackman married Deborra-Lee Furness on 11 April 1996. They met on Correlli, an Australian television series. Jackman personally designed an engagement ring for Furness, and their wedding rings bore the Sanskrit inscription "Om paramar mainamar," translated as "we dedicate our union to a greater source."[56] They currently divide their time between Sydney and New York City.[57]

Furness had two miscarriages,[58] following which she and Jackman adopted two children, Oscar Maximillian (born 15 May 2000) and Ava Eliot (born 10 July 2005).

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1994 Law of the Land Charles McCray One episode
1995 Correlli Kevin Jones Main role
Blue Heelers Brady Jackson One episode
1996 The Man from Snowy River Duncan Jones Five episodes
1999 Erskineville Kings Wace Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor
Paperback Hero Jack Willis
2000 X-Men Logan / Wolverine Saturn Award
2001 Kate & Leopold Leopold Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Someone Like You Eddie
Swordfish Stanley Jobson
2003 X2 Logan / Wolverine Nominated — Empire Award for Best Actor
2004 Van Helsing Gabriel Van Helsing
Van Helsing: The London Assignment Gabriel Van Helsing (voice)
2005 Stories of Lost Souls Roger segment "Standing Room Only"
2006 Happy Feet Memphis (voice)
Flushed Away Roddy (voice)
The Prestige Robert Angier Nominated — Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor
The Fountain Tomas / Tommy / Tom Creo Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
Scoop Peter Lyman
X-Men: The Last Stand Logan / Wolverine
2008 Deception Wyatt Bose Producer
Uncle Jonny Uncle Russell Tropfest 2008 Finalist Film[59]
Australia The Drover
The Burning Season Narrator Documentary
2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine Logan / Wolverine Producer
2011 X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2 Logan / Wolverine Producer

Awards and nominations

Awards

Nominations

Mentions in popular culture

References

  1. ↑ http://open.salon.com/blog/kaysong/2008/11/10/my_sexiest_men_living
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20241213,00.html
  3. ↑ Gans, Andrew."Tony Winner Jackman to Host Academy Awards," playbill.com, 12 December 2008
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Hugh Jackman". Inside the Actors Studio. Bravo. 7 March 2004. No. 11, season 10.
  5. ↑ "MATINEE IDOL." The Independent. 1 May 2004.
  6. ↑ "Hugh Jackman relishes performing - More news and other features - MSNBC.com". http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4893079/. Retrieved 2009-05-27. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Biography Today. Detroit, Michigan: Omnigraphics. 2010. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-7808-1058-7. 
  8. ↑ Hugh Jackman: X Appeal
  9. ↑ "Alumnus Hugh Jackman honoured at UTS 20-year celebration". http://www.newsroom.uts.edu.au/news/detail.cfm?ItemId=11098. Retrieved 2009-05-27. 
  10. ↑ "home and away". http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/hugh_jackman_biog/2.html. Retrieved 2009-05-27. 
  11. ↑ "Jackman back as boy from Waapa". http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=8095. Retrieved 2009-05-27. 
  12. ↑ "Hugh Jackman". imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0413168/bio. Retrieved 18 December 2008. 
  13. ↑ Marvel Universe: Wolverine (James Howlett) Marvel.com
  14. ↑ Fleming, Michael (December 2008). "Playboy Interview: Hugh Jackman". Playboy: 62. 
  15. ↑ "saturday night live" imdb.com
  16. ↑ Gans, Andrew."A Steady Rain, with Craig and Jackman, to Play Broadway's Schoenfeld" playbill.com, July 9, 2009
  17. ↑ "Call him Bland, James Bland - MSNBC". http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9546090/. 
  18. ↑ http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/hq/big-down-under-1570944.html
  19. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780504/
  20. ↑ Hugh Jackman Will Host 81st Academy Awards
  21. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0837787/
  22. ↑ Hastings, Chris; Jones, Beth (2007-08-05). "Meryl Streep competes for Sunset Boulevard". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1559524/Meryl-Streep-competes-for-Sunset-Boulevard.html. Retrieved 2010-05-04. 
  23. ↑ Fleming, Michael (2008-03-24). "Jackman, Guggenheim go 'Nowhere'". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117982842.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. 
  24. ↑ Trio bound to Stow's 'captives'
  25. ↑ Adam Bryant (4 August 2009). "Hugh Jackman Signs on for Circus Musical". TVGuide.com. http://www.tvguide.com/News/Hugh-Jackman-Signs-1008661.aspx. Retrieved 2009-08-04. 
  26. ↑ "Hugh Jackman to Star in Real Steel."
  27. ↑ Real Steel at the Internet Movie Database
  28. ↑ "Hugh Jackman To Topline Daniel's 'Selma'". hollywood.com. http://www.hollywood.com/news/Hugh_Jackman_To_Topline_Daniels_Selma/6830009. Retrieved May 11, 2010. 
  29. ↑ [1]
  30. ↑ Movies Online
  31. ↑ Movie News
  32. ↑ Hugh Jackman Congratulates Professor Yunus (video)
  33. ↑ "Books That Made a Difference to Hugh Jackman." Oprah.com
  34. ↑ "Hugh Jackman's Bookshelf: Banker to the Poor, by Muhammad Yunus." Oprah.com
  35. ↑ Global Poverty Project narrated by Hugh Jackman
  36. ↑ Hugh Jackman goes to UN
  37. ↑ [2]
  38. ↑ Hugh Jackman steals lead role on climate
  39. ↑ World Vision ambassador Hugh Jackman speaks on climate change
  40. ↑ The Art of Elysium
  41. ↑ MPTV Fund Foundation
  42. ↑ Bone Marrow Donor Institute
  43. ↑ The Burning Season
  44. ↑ Charity Tweet
  45. ↑ Jackman Reveals Charity Donation
  46. ↑ Operation of Hope
  47. ↑ Broadway Cares
  48. ↑ Inside the actors studio
  49. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald - Kayaking
  50. ↑ ManlySeaEagles.com.au
  51. ↑ http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/archive/peoplearchive.php/Hugh_Jackman/biography/
  52. ↑ Sky Sports Interview
  53. ↑ Hugh Jackman takes up piano lessons
  54. ↑ People Magazine - yoga
  55. ↑ School of Practical Philosophy
  56. ↑ Enough Rope with Andrew Denton
  57. ↑ Jackman buys apartment in Manhattan
  58. ↑ Furness on enough rope-adoption
  59. ↑ Uncle Jonny - ninemsn Video
  60. ↑ Hugh Jackman's prints recorded in cement
  61. ↑ Hugh Jackman gets seriously punk'd
  62. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0748812/plotsummary

External links

Hugh Jackman A Steady Rain On Broadway - Opening Night Broadway.tv Blog

Preceded by
Matt Damon		 People's Sexiest Man Alive
2008		 Succeeded by
Johnny Depp
Hosts of the Academy Awards ceremonies

Steve Martin (2001) · Whoopi Goldberg (2002) · Steve Martin (2003) · Billy Crystal (2004) · Chris Rock (2005) · Jon Stewart (2006) · Ellen DeGeneres (2007) · Jon Stewart (2008) · Hugh Jackman (2009) · Alec Baldwin / Steve Martin (2010)

Complete List · (1929–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001–present)
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical

Nathan Lane (2001) · John Lithgow (2002) · Antonio Banderas / Harvey Fierstein (2003) · Hugh Jackman (2004) · Norbert Leo Butz (2005) · John Lloyd Young (2006) · Raúl Esparza (2007) · Paulo Szot (2008) · Brian d'Arcy James (2009) · Douglas Hodge (2010)

 · (1975-2000) · (2001-present)
Primetime Emmy Award for Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program

Barbra Streisand (2001) · Sting (2002) · Wayne Brady (2003) · Elaine Stritch (2004) · Hugh Jackman (2005) · Barry Manilow (2006) · Tony Bennett (2007) · Don Rickles (2008)

(1974–2000) · (2001–present)
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

Nathan Lane (2001) · John Lithgow (2002) · Harvey Fierstein (2003) · Hugh Jackman (2004) · Norbert Leo Butz (2005) · John Lloyd Young (2006) · David Hyde Pierce (2007) · Paulo Szot (2008) · David Alvarez / Trent Kowalik / Kiril Kulish (2009) · Douglas Hodge (2010)

(1947–1975) · (1976–2000) · (2001–present)