Hugh Jackman: 66 amazing facts about the actor! (List)

1. Hugh Michael Jackman was born on 12 October 1968.

2. He is an Australian actor, singer, and producer.

3. Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as superhero, period, and romance characters.

4. He is best known for his long-running role as Wolverine in the X-Men film series, as well as for his lead roles in the romantic-comedy fantasy Kate & Leopold (2001), the action-horror film Van Helsing (2004), the magic-themed drama The Prestige (2006), the epic historical romantic drama Australia (2008), the sci-fi sports drama Real Steel (2011), the film version of Les Misérables (2012), and the thriller Prisoners (2013).

5. His work in Les Misérables earned him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and his first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy in 2013.

6. In theater, he won a Tony Award for his role in The Boy from Oz.

7. A four-time host of the Tony Awards, winning an Emmy Award for one of these appearances, Jackman also hosted the 81st Academy Awards on 22 February 2009.

8. Jackman became known outside 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.

9. The performance earned him an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical.

10. Jackman was born in Sydney, New South Wales, the son of Grace McNeil (née Greenwood) and Christopher John Jackman, a Cambridge-trained accountant.

11. His parents were English and had come to Australia in 1967 as part of the “Ten Pound Poms” immigration.

12. One of his paternal great-grandfathers was Greek.

13. His parents were devout Christians, having been converted by Evangelist Billy Graham after their marriage.

14. Jackman has four older siblings, and was the second of his parents’ children to be born in Australia. He also has a younger half-sister, from his mother’s remarriage.

15. His parents divorced when he was eight, and Jackman remained in Australia with his father and Jackman’s two brothers, while his mother moved back to England with Jackman’s two sisters.

16. Jackman went to primary school at Pymble Public School and later attended the all-boys Knox Grammar School on Sydney’s Upper North Shore, where he starred in its production of My Fair Lady in 1985, and became the school captain in 1986.

17. Following graduation, he spent a gap year working at Uppingham School in England.

18. On his return, he studied at the University of Technology, Sydney, graduating in 1991 with a BA in Communications. In his final year of university, he took a drama course to make up additional credits. The class did Václav Havel’s The Memorandum with Jackman as the lead.

19. After obtaining his BA, Jackman completed the one-year course “The Journey” at the Actors’ Centre in Sydney. 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 theatre. 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’.” After completing “The Journey”, he was offered a role on the popular soap opera Neighbours but turned it down to attend the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts of Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia, from which he graduated in 1994.

20. He was a last-minute addition to the X-Men (2000) cast. Dougray Scott was originally cast as Wolverine, but Mission: Impossible II (2000) required two extra months of shooting.

21. He sang “People Will Say We’re in Love” from “Oklahoma!” with Shirley Jones, when they reprised their respective roles of Curly and Laurie, at the opening of Fox Studios in Sydney.

22. For Sunset Boulevard (as Joe Gillis), he won a Variety Club, a Mo and a Green Room Award as best male actor in a musical. He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award in 1998 as Curly in the Royal National Theatre’s Oklahoma!.

23. Chosen as one of People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People in the World” 5 years in a row, 2000-2004.

24. He was one of the presenters at the 2002 Academy Awards, but says he’ll think twice about presenting again. He says, “I slept for about an hour and I’d have liked a little bit of sushi to come down. There’ll be a lot of drunken parties back home and people betting and that’s usually what I’m at, so getting up there in a suit and talking for a little bit is kind of bizarre.”.

25. According to the comic books, Wolverine stands 5-feet-3-inches in height. Jackman, who plays Wolverine, stands a whole foot taller than his character.

26. He has made six films with Halle Berry: X-Men (2000), Swordfish (2001), X-Men 2 (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Movie 43 (2013) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).

27. He was nominated for a 1999 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for the 1998 season for Best Actor in a Musical for his role in “Oklahoma.”.

28. Was offered the role of “Captain William Gordon” in The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey (2005).

29. While filming Van Helsing (2004), he accidentally broke an extra’s hand.

30. Voted one of “The 50 Most Beautiful People in the World” by People magazine [2003].

31. Jackman has described himself as a Christian and a “religious person”. He also meditates daily and follows the spiritually eclectic School of Practical Philosophy.

32. Jackman married Deborra-Lee Furness on 11 April 1996 at St. John’s in Toorak, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne.

33. They met on the set of Australian TV show Correlli.

34. 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”.

35. Furness had two miscarriages, following which she and Jackman adopted two mixed-race children, Oscar and Ava.

36. In November 2013, Jackman announced he had basal-cell carcinoma removed from his nose. He had a second carcinoma removed from his nose in May 2014, telling Associated Press that he expects to have future recurrences. This resulted in Jackman attending the various worldwide premieres of X-Men: Days of Future Past with a bandage on his nose, and urging his followers on photo-sharing platform Instagram to “wear sunscreen”.

37. On 18 March 2015, Jackman revealed that he had to cancel stage performances in Turkey because he had a left vocal chord haemorrhage. His stage performance ‘An Evening with Hugh Jackman’ has been rescheduled in Zorlu PSM Center in Turkey for three days from 30 May to 1 June 2015.

38. 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.

39. 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.

40. Named Best Actor in a Musical by Drama Desk in New York for his portrayal of Peter Allen in “The Boy From Oz” (April 2004).

41. He admitted after X-Men (2000) that it was difficult to summon up the rage and darkness necessary for the character of Logan/Wolverine and it took weeks off work with Bryan Singer to find the right tone for the character. After that, however, it was relatively easy for him to play the angry character.

42. Expressed great fondness for the comic book character Superman. Ironically, Superman is owned by DC Comics, the rival company of Marvel Comics, which owns X-Men and Wolverine.

43. Once said in an interview with Jay Leno that he is a fan of the “Friday The 13th” film series, and he became an actor because he wanted to play Jason in one.

44. He is terribly near-sighted and has extremely blurry vision when he isn’t wearing contacts. Even when hosting the Tonys and Saturday Night Live (1975), Jackman memorized almost everything he had to say so he wouldn’t have to struggle to read.

45. Was school captain during his final year of high school, a school also attended by Australian actors Adam Garcia, Andrew Johnston, Reg Livermore, and Hugo Weaving; writer Stuart Beattie; and radio host John Laws.

46. His two children have playtime sessions with Rupert Murdoch’s younger children in New York.

47. Had to take stunt-driving classes to prepare for his role in Swordfish (2001).

48. He had never seen an episode of Saturday Night Live (1975) until he agreed to host the show. The producers sent him tapes of episodes so he could understand the format of the show. He later said that his favorite was the one hosted by Conan O’Brien.

49. Often his wife and, sometimes, members of his family stay with him while he is shooting on location.

50. Doesn’t smoke in real life. He says he finds it horrible to smoke in movies.

51. Was among the guests at the wedding of Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban.

52. Wants to produce and star in a film based on the life of The Incredible Hulk (1978) actor Bill Bixby.

53. Frequently gets offered roles based on comic books. He was offered Daredevil (2003), Hulk (2003), Iron Man (2008), Mr. Fantastic in Fantastic Four (2005), and Jonathan Kent in Superman Returns (2006).

54. Upon meeting Olivia Newton-John (John Travolta introduced the two while he and Jackman were filming Swordfish (2001)), he confessed to her that under his desk in elementary school, there was a poster with Newton-John on it, and he would kiss the poster every day.

55. Close friend of Liev Schreiber.

56. Lives in New York City, New York.

57. He undergoes intense physical training each time he’s played Wolverine. When in peak physical condition, he can bench press well more than 300 pounds.

58. His life goal as a young man was to be a international freelance journalist. He got a degree in journalism before turning to acting.

59. Was presented the 2,487th Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame accompanied by his wife and two children, as well as his Les Misérables (2012) director Tom Hooper and co-stars Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried (December 13, 2012).

60. As of 2015, he holds the record for playing the same comic book character (Marvel Comics’ “Wolverine”) more times than any other actor, in this case, 7 films. Prior to that, the record was held by Christopher Reeve, who played DC Comics’ “Superman” in 4 films.

61. Godfather of Rupert Murdoch’s daughters Grace and Chloe.

62. Has played the character of Logan/Wolverine in seven different films.

63. Watched Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry films as inspiration for his performance as Wolverine.

64. His wife initially told him he should turn down the role of Wolverine.

65. His favorite movies are “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Singin’ in the Rain”.

66. A big fan of professional wrestling.