Hugh Jackman interview: The X factor

Published on Friday 5 December 2008 16:24

WHEN I meet up with Aussie heartthrob Hugh Jackman in Amsterdam, the 40-year-old father-of-two looks a little under the weather, which, given that 48 hours ago he was filming the final scene on the next instalment in the X-Men saga, Wolverine, in Vancouver, should come as no surprise. What does come as a surprise, however, is the revelation that he and his toddling daughter, Ava, were up late last night watching porn on TV.

"It got to about 3am last night, and my daughter still wasn't off, she was so jetlagged," he says. "So I thought I'd find some cartoons on TV. But no matter what channel I tried it was always people taking their clothes off. I kept flicking channels but I couldn't get rid of it in time, and my daughter suddenly pops up, pointing at the screen: 'Look, Daddy,' she says. 'They're taking their clothes off. It must be bath-time!'"

He apologises for "waffling on", although he need do no such thing; Jackman's a good raconteur, and not what one might expect of a man who has since been voted the 'Sexiest Man Alive' (the dubious accolade coming courtesy of People magazine last month). He is, of course, very handsome, but he's also rather unassuming. He becomes noticeably embarrassed, for example, when remembering another recent accolade: a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. "I will be honest – I was touched by it," he says. "My dad does not usually say much, but when he found out he hugged me. He was really proud, and that meant a lot to me."

Indeed, the pride his father feels in his youngest son's achievements will soon receive another boost, with Jackman's next two films – the aforementioned Wolverine and Australia – standing as his biggest to date. Thus far, the X-Men films, drawn from Marvel's comic book series, have played as ensemble pieces, Jackman anchoring the three films with fellow top-liners Halle Berry, Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. However, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (to employ the full title), Jackman's eponymous character takes centre stage. In Australia, meanwhile, Jackman headlines opposite fellow Antipodean Nicole Kidman, as Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann sets out a sprawling, epic saga that gallops through his native country's dusty wartime history. Think of it as an Australian version of The African Queen.

"Movies on this scale, these big, epic, romantic adventures simply don't happen very often," says Jackman. "It eclipses anything that has ever been done down there; Baz has been very open about it, making comparisons to Out Of Africa and Gone With The Wind. And if you put those epic films in a melting pot, I think you'll understand the relationship between the two lead characters pretty well. It's been a laugh working with Nicole. She and I have known each other for almost 15 years; she's best friends with my wife."

The tale centres on Kidman's Lady Sarah Ashley, an aristocratic English woman who travels to the Outback on the eve of the Second World War in search of her missing husband. Learning of his demise, she then sets out to claim her family inheritance: a huge cattle station spreading out over a territory roughly the size of Belgium. Ashley is then forced to team up with Jackman's brooding cattle man, known only as the Drover. Together they embark on an arduous journey, driving a herd of 2,000 cattle across 500 miles of unforgiving landscape.

In truth, Jackman is fortunate to find himself in his current position. He has forged an admirable career, blending action heroics with smaller-scale dramas, but when it comes to the southern hemisphere, he has remained in the shadow of New Zealand's A-list export, Russell Crowe. It was Crowe that Luhrmann originally asked to join Australia, and the actor agreed. Indeed, Crowe even went as far as building a set of stables on his own sprawling ranch to house the massive herd of horses, before the director's dallying alienated his A-list star.

All of which proved good news for Jackman, who, as a native of Sydney, was desperate to be involved in such an ambitious project. "Of course, for me to be part of an Australian movie on this scale, that's the most important thing – to tell a story that looks at its history. Both of my parents are English. They came out to Australia in 1967 and I was born the following year. My parents and immigrants like them were known then as '10 Poms', because back then the Australian government was trying to get educated English people and Canadians (to be honest, educated white people) to come and live in Australia. So they offered them citizenship and a whole load of incentives. For the sum of 10 you could sail your entire family out to Australia, so that's what my father chose to do. My parents were drawn to the idea that there was space and opportunity in Australia."

The youngest of the Jackman clan certainly made the most of the opportunities that his family's adopted country offered, enrolling in the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts in Perth and, after graduating in 1994, walking straight into the Australian production of Beauty And The Beast, playing Belle's macho suitor Gaston. He followed that with a spell working in Australia's thriving soap opera market, and on set of 1995's Correlli he met Deborra-Lee Furness, an established actress nine years his senior. The pair married in 1996, adopting a son, Oscar, in 2000 and Ava five years later.

"It was funny, during my early 20s, I didn't have a regular girlfriend," says Jackman. "I was single and really happy about it. But then when I was 26, I met Deb. She was my leading lady, and the attraction was just undeniable. I started planning to propose to her at about three months.

"We are happy. Deb and my kids have been the best things that have ever happened to me, without a doubt. I remember the guy who delivered the baby when Oscar was born. We were there in the delivery room and he came in two minutes later. 'Congratulations,' he said. 'Just don't drop the baby!' Then he walked out. To this day, I remember that and whenever I get asked advice about fatherhood, that's what I say: 'Just don't drop the baby!'"

Thus far, Jackman has proved a safe pair of hands; certainly that's how he's perceived in Hollywood. He landed his breakthrough role, the character of Wolverine in the first X-Men movie by chance. Dougray Scott, signed to play the character, could not take the role (Mission: Impossible 2 had over-run by two months), and the producers, having seen Jackman in Oklahoma!, pushed him forward. Initially director Bryan Singer was unimpressed with Jackman's tousle-headed cowboy, but eventually relented. The film was a huge hit (taking almost $300m worldwide), launching two sequels and the forthcoming Origins film. Audiences adored Wolverine, the side-burned brawler with metal claws, and Jackman was offered a clutch of action roles.

Instead, he chose to avoid instant fame, working to secure more artistically nourishing roles to supplement his more bombastic exploits. He has shot further action pictures – Swordfish (2001) and Van Helsing (2004) – but since 2006's X-Men 3, he's appeared in Darren Aronofsky's beautiful if bemusing sci-fi The Fountain and Christopher Nolan's mysterious thriller The Prestige. He also grabbed headlines in 2003 by signing on to play the lead in the stage musical The Boy From Oz, the tale of Peter Allen, the flamboyant Australian singer and dancer.

"The praise was nice, of course, but you can't let the good stuff, or the bad stuff, go to your head," he says. And how does he feel about his status as heartthrob and titles such as People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive? "If I ever top those polls, my wife simply reckons that Brad Pitt obviously wasn't available," he laughs. And what does she think of his rugged character in Australia? "Hah! When the studio says the character of the Drover is 'rough-hewn', they mean he's got a lot of chest hair. But my wife loves the idea of me coming home in costume because it makes her feel like she's having an affair, in a good way.

"When we met, I was cast as a prisoner with tattoos and she'd say: 'Don't take your tattoos off tonight,' and I'd be like: 'All right!'" And what does she think when the Drover comes off set? "You know what," he smiles, "I think she was happy that, when we were back from the Outback, our home is pretty close to set." So bath-time was a regular activity? "Hah! It was, mate, it was!"

• Australia is released December 26

• www.australiamovie.com