OverSixty July 2023 Digital

ISSUE 5 | JULY 2023 | OVERSIXTY.COM.AU 24 ENTERTAINMENT !e a"able Australian actor opens up about how his new #lm, !e Son , changed him and why people loving his #lms and characters means so much to him JAMES MOTTRAM PROFILE T he pink-walled Excelsior Hotel, on Venice’s Lido, is more than used to famous #lm stars mingling on its terrac- es. Today it’s the turn of Hugh Jackman, the genial star famed for the razor-clawed superhero Wolverine in the X-Men #lms or barnstorming, Broadway-sized per- formances in musical movies like 2017’s !e Greatest Showman . His role as a bread-stealing revolutionary in 2012’s Les Misérables received anOscar nomination. We’re seated in the downstairs res- taurant, overlooking the sun-dappled waters of the Adriatic Sea. Jackman, 54, sporting a navy suit and white shirt, is trim and toned. We’ve met sporadically over the years, right back to 1999 when he starred in a little-seen #lm, Paperback Hero – playing a truck driver who writes romance novels. “Hollywood to me is not a Holy Grail,” he told me, earnestly. But Wolverine was waiting in the wings, the role that would turn him into a star. Between showtunes and superheroes, Jackman has never quite managed a role like his recent #lm, !e Son . It comes adapted from the 2018 play by Florian Zeller, who previously exploded onto the movie scene with another take on one of his own stage dramas, !e Father . While that dealt with Alzheimer’s – something Jackman’s own father lived with for years – this looks at another mental health is- sue. Jackman plays Peter, a workaholic divorcee whose world implodes when his adolescent son begins to su"er from de- bilitating bouts of depression. He gives a gut-wrenching performance . “I think what was most interesting to me about Peter was [that] it was important to him to feel that he is a strong and capa- ble man,” says Jackman. “And that made it harder for him to admit that maybe he’s not equipped, maybe he didn’t know what to do. Some guilt about leaving the family home, that is unresolved, makes him even more determined to be the one who can #x things, save his son – be the father that his father was not.” To say the #lm got under Jackman’s skin would be an understatement. “I think it’s still working its way through me, as we talk about it and relive it and understand it,” he admits. “And when I watched it, I found myself very emotion- al. I’m not just talking about the story. I think it was a process that required a lot of, I guess, trust and revealing.” At the Venice world premiere, the audi- ence gave the #lm a ten-minute standing ovation; Jackman visibly moved by the thunderous reception. He admits the #lmchanged his attitude to mental health. “It gave me a lot of em- pathy,” he says. “It made me understand.” He started therapy during the #lming – an interior clean-out that most in their mid- dle-age years could probably do with. It also reframed his own relationships with his children. Married since 1996 to ac- tress Deborra-Lee Furness, Jackman and his wife later adopted a son, Oscar (now 22) and daughter, Ava (17). “I’m di"erent since doing this #lm,” he says. “I’m more openaboutmy vulnerabilitywithmy kids.” While Jackman has worked for some of the world’s biggest directors, includ- ing Christopher Nolan ( !e Prestige ) and Darren Aronofsky ( !e Fountain ), he’s not always been recognised for his dra- matic chops, and had to campaign his director for the role. “I had to call him and say, ‘Please have me!’ and email him and put my hand up for the part.” Zeller remembers their communication, as the actor quietly requested ten minutes of his time to explain just why he felt he was right to play the part. “I was really moved, I have to say, by his humility, his honesty, and his capacity to express his desire.” During the London shoot, Jackman’s raw emotions even took Zeller by surprise. “He was not trying to hide himself behind the character. He was open to explore his own emotions, in order to be as truthful as possible, which is very courageous for an actor.” It was a tremendously di$cult time for Jackman; his father Chris, a for- mer accountant whose health had been deteriorating for some time, died during production. !e actor, who’d visited his father shortly before #lming began, stayed on to complete the #lm, partly to help him through the grieving process. Today, he speaks fondly of his father’s quirks, like how he’d tell him o" as a youngster. “‘I’mvery disappointed in you, youngman!’ I remember getting that one. But my dad was very English.” Jackman’s British parents came to Australia in 1967 as part of an immigration scheme. !e youngest of #ve, Jackman was eight when his parents split; after that, his mother re- turned to England with his two sisters. Jackman half-jokes that he “wanted to be a rock star” growing up, but the seed for his career was planted elsewhere. A born-again Christian, Jackman’s devout father used to takehis son toChristianRe- vivals. It may not have entirely in%uenced his religious beliefs, but the young Jack- manwas entranced by the showmanship. “I remember when I was 14, 15, going to one and having a very strong feeling that I was going to be up on that stage at some point. Calm but very certain.” While he starred in a production of My Fair Lady at school, it wasn’t until Jackman took a drama class at university that he began to feel like he’d found his people. Further theatre studies followed, then came a role as Gaston in a stage pro- duction of Beauty and the Beast . “It was a bit of a joke. !ey told me ‘You’re not the best singer around’ but the guy had to be over six foot, and look a bit like me. In my contract, I had to have singing lessons every week. You do that, and you can be tone deaf and you’ll end up alright.” He ended up more than alright. He’s twice been nominated for a Tony award, winning for !e Boy from Oz . He hosted the Oscars in 2009 and has toured mul- tiple one-man shows, singing Broadway hits to audiences. Is it any wonder he was drawn to a #lm called !e Greatest Showman ? He helped turn it into a $434 million-grossing phenomenon, one that people %ock to repeat “singalong” view- ings. “I’m thrilled,” he admits, “I know how much it touches people and it really means a lot to them.” As an actor, he pushes himself every inch of the way. “When a director compli- ments me, I want to say, ‘Don’t do that, man.’ !e next take’s not going to be as good. I react more to giving myself a hard time – it’s exhausting.” Every production, he’s always full of angst before he begins. He remembers meeting tennis legend Roger Federer’swife once. “She said [that] even after he would lose, he would come home and play table tennis with the kids. Hewas very philosophical about it all. I’m not quite at that Roger Federer level.” If there’s been a constant in his career, it’s been Wolverine. A role he’s played across nine X-Men movies, Jackman’s soulful turn helped turn comic book #lms into the blockbusting behemoths they’ve become. He said goodbye to the character – brilliantly – in 2017’s Logan . “It was a discussion I had with [comedi- an] Jerry Seinfeld which really sparked o" the ending to me. He gave me a surpris- ing answer to why he #nished his show; he just said ‘I’m a #rm believer that crea- tively if you leave at the right time you’re propelled into whatever’s next with ener- gy and excitement. But if you stay a little too long, it can be Herculean to give it up.’ And that really rang true to me.” Herculean indeed. Shortly after we meet, it’s announced Jackman will return as the character in 2024 in Deadpool 3 , seven years on from his last screen ap- pearance. !e temptation of teaming up with Marvel’s most snarky superhero, played by Ryan Reynolds, was clearly too much. As Jackman told !e Guardian re- cently, “I just wanted to do it and I felt it in my gut [and] I get to punch the s**t out of Ryan Reynolds every day.” !e consummate professional, he clearly remembered that showbiz adage: always give the audience what they want. Hugh Jackman in his recent !lm !e Son (bottom left); the versatile performer won a Tony award for !e Boy FromOz in 2004 Photo: Getty Images ENTERTAINMENT HUGH JACKMAN on mental health, musicals and Marvel BONUS SECTION