Highlights
- Hugh Jackman’s marriage to Deborra-Lee Furness has ended after 27 years, but their love and split remain amicable.
- Deborra-Lee Furness advised Hugh Jackman to turn down the role of Wolverine, but he disregarded her advice and proved his acting range.
- Hugh Jackman only took the role of Wolverine because he had no other offers at the time, but it ultimately launched his career and provided financial stability.
Probably everyone saw Hugh Jackman trending and got excited about what that meant, but sadly, it’s not because of his return to Wolverine. He has been trending because of the news that his marriage to actress Deborra-Lee Furness had come to an end. The couple had celebrated their 27th anniversary just months prior, and it seemed everything was great between them. But of course, no one knows what goes inside a marriage except for the people involved. From the statement they put out, they still love each other very much and it was completely amicable, which is nice.
Much like every couple, the two of them shared pretty much every aspect of their lives with each other, and that includes their careers. More than once, Hugh turned to Deborra for advice, which usually proved to be very useful. Except for one time when she was dead wrong.
Hugh Jackman Once Relied On Wife Deborra-Lee Furness For Advice
Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness have one of the sweetest and most interesting love stories in Hollywood. Their relationship, while beautiful, suffered a lot from the prejudice and ill-intentioned comments both from the press and from the public. The reason? Their 13-year age gap.
Now, this might be concerning if it wasn’t because the two of them were fully consenting adults when they met and pursued a relationship. Considering that, and the fact that famous men date much younger women all the time and no one bats an eye, it becomes obvious that the “concern” over their relationship stemmed more from sexism than anything else.
The couple met in 1995 when they were making the show Corelli, and they were immediately smitten with each other. At the time, Hugh was still building his career, while Deborra was an established actress with several credits under her belt.
As their relationship progressed, and as Hugh’s career did as well, it was only natural that he would turn to her for advice. After all, she had more experience than him, and even without it, it just made sense for him to let his partner weigh in on his decisions, considering they were in the same business.
Most of the time, her advice hit the nail on the head, but there was one time she missed and almost led him astray.
Deborra-Lee Told Hugh To Turn Down Wolverine
Although looking back on it now, there is no one more suited to the role of Wolverine than Hugh Jackman, there’s no shame in admitting that he might not have been everyone’s first choice. Or that, when offered the role, not everyone would think he was the right fit.
After all, as much as Hugh is a fantastic actor, he’s a musical theater darling, and not the person a lot of people might have pictured as Logan at first. Deborra-Lee was one of those people.
Well, it wasn’t just that, to be honest. It was also the fact that, at the time, neither of them had any idea of how important the character would become. She pointed out that, as a young artist, it was important he chose roles that would make people take him seriously as an actor, like the roles he was playing in the West End.
Deborra-Lee was worried that he would forever be reduced to this superhero role. Of course, that was just her piece of advice. None of what she said was meant to be taken as a directive, it was just her two cents, but she had complete faith in Hugh to decide what was best for his career.
If anything, taking the role of Wolverine just proved how much range he has as an actor. He can be a mutant superhero one day, and star in Les Misérables another. What better way to prove how serious he is about his acting career?
Deborra-Lee had no problem acknowledging her mistake. In fact, she finds it funny. “We’d never heard of it. Both of us had no clue. I’m thankful that I was wrong because my children get to go to college and have their tuition paid for,” she laughed about it.
Hugh Only Took Wolverine Because He Had No Other Offers
As grateful as we all are that Hugh decided to take the offer to audition for Wolverine, a lot of things had to happen in order for him to get the role. Deborra-Lee’s opinion of the part was one small detail when looking at the bigger picture.
At the time, he wasn’t too excited about the project, but he had no other offers he was interested in and decided to give it a go. Right off the bat, it didn’t seem it would work out. Hugh was still performing in the West End when he got the audition, and his turn to read for the part got delayed and was making him late for the play, which annoyed him.
“They were, as they do, running late. I’m a nobody and I’m like, ‘Um, I’ve got to be on stage’.” He ended up knocking on the door to speed things up.
“I said, ‘I really need to do my audition now or I’m out.’ And I can see them going, ‘Yeah, leave.’ But the guy who was just finishing goes, ‘All right, come in here.’ I remember being a little sh*tty because I’d waited for an hour-and-a-half and I hate being late, so I was pissed off.”
After a less-than-stellar start, it seemed that, although everyone was impressed by Hugh Jackman’s performance, he still wasn’t at the top of their list. At the time, they were trying really hard to get Dougray Scott for the role. He turned them down, though, to go work on Mission Impossible.
Finally, it seemed the pieces fell into place, and Hugh received the call that he got the role.
“I send Tom Cruise a present every year,” Hugh said about it.
Source: NewsFinale
