The Tragic True Life Story Of Hugh Jackman

A true entertainer, Hugh Jackman isn't just one of Hollywood's biggest actors — he's also a producer, singer, and dancer, with a long list of credits on the big screen, small screen, and on stage. While he owes his entire career to his star-making role as Wolverine in 2000's "X-Men" film — which arguably kicked off the superhero movie boom we still enjoy — Jackman has done far more.

Born on October 12, 1968, in Sydney, Jackman has showcased his acting chops in a wide range of projects, from the musical tragedy "Les Misérables" to prestige dramas like "The Son." His performances have earned him plenty of accolades, including a Golden Globe, a Grammy, an Emmy, and two Tony Awards, missing only an Oscar to become that rare EGOT-winning performer.

Despite his success, Jackman's life hasn't been all glitz and glamour — throughout his life, the actor has faced plenty of heartache and struggle. From the early childhood challenges of his parents' separation to his repeated health scares, this is the tragic true-life story of Hugh Jackman.

Worldwide superstar or not, everyone has had to face trouble at some point in their lives — and often that trouble can be traced back to a difficult childhood. Hugh Jackman is no exception. When he was growing up, he had to endure one of the most difficult things that can ever happen to a child: His mother left him, his brothers, and his dad, leaving return to her native U.K. with her daughters.

In 2012, Jackman spoke to Australian Women's Weekly about how his mother abandoned the family when he was very young, and how it affected him. "One of the main things I remember is that horrible feeling that people were talking about you and looking at you because it was odd for the mother to leave," he said. He was just 8 years old and living in Sydney at the time, and it took him years to come to terms with the fact that his mother was really gone. 

Jackman said he has since come to understand why she left. "She was in hospital after I was born suffering from post-natal depression," he said. "There wasn't a support network for her [in Australia]." In the decades since, the two have remained close, with Jackman and his mother often appearing together at red-carpet events. "There comes a certain point in life when you have to stop blaming other people for how you feel or the misfortunes in your life," he said.

When Hugh Jackman's mother picked up and left his family, he said he struggled to accept his mother's absence, with the possibility of a family reunion always giving him hope. That hope, however, was dashed a few years later — and that's when the young Jackman began to experience emotional issues.

"I was volatile," Jackman told Parade in 2015. According to Jackman, his explosive temper surfaced when he was around 12 or 13 — after his parents had briefly considered a reconciliation. "All those years I'd been holding out hope that they would [get back together]." But when his parents ultimately decided to remain apart, Jackman fell to pieces. "There was this perfect storm of hormones and emotion," he said. The actor said that during this time he'd often take out his rage on the school rugby field, going into what he referred to as a "white rage" that he compared to Wolverine's rage. Other times he was even known to bash his head into his school's metal lockers.

"I was a fearful kid who felt powerless," he said of his childhood problems. Afraid of heights and fearful of the dark, Jackman said, he was timid as a young child. He said fear that often fueled his rage. Thankfully, he had a strong family and he's since found ways of overcoming his anger issues, with help from family, friends, and professionals as well.

With all of the pain and trauma he felt during his childhood, Hugh Jackman brought with him more than just a bad temper into adulthood. He was also left with lingering emotional problems that followed him through life — well into his career as a Hollywood star — and he said that he eventually came to realize he needed help dealing with them.

"I just started it recently," Jackman revealed of his choice to seek therapy to address his past. "It helped me a lot. We all need a village," he told Who magazine (via Today). Jackman said therapy helped him finally close the door on his mother's absence from his childhood. But it's also helped him in the present, with his own family and friends. "Most importantly, it's helping me to be more relational with the people I love in my life, and really understanding and living in their shoes and being clear to be able to see them."

Jackman made the acknowledgment during the press tour for his movie "The Son." And according to The Hollywood Reporter, the film also had psychiatrists on set to help the cast deal with the film's difficult subject matter, a fact that Jackman must have appreciated.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

These days, there probably isn't a studio around that wouldn't want Hugh Jackman leading their next tentpole blockbuster. A proven star for more than 20 years, he could have his pick of projects and is never hurting for work. But rewind a few decades or more and you might be surprised to learn that Jackman wasn't always a model employee. In fact, he was fired from his very first job.

To be fair to Jackman, that job wasn't a role in a Hollywood movie, nor even an Australian commercial. It was when Jackman was just a teenager, back when he got his very first job at a local convenience store — in his case, 7-Eleven. But it wasn't slacking off or messing up that got Jackman canned. Instead, it was his effervescent personality. "I talked too much to the customers, which was probably true," Jackman said when he spoke to Fast Company in 2019. "She just wanted me to get them out. I said, 'There's no one else here and I want to chat.'" Jackman quickly rebounded and later found a job as a PE teacher. Thankfully, there are people these days — journalists, interviewers, podcasters, and talk show hosts — who are happy to let Jackman talk their ears off.

By now, most fans of Hugh Jackman know the story of how he got the highly coveted role of Wolverine in 2000's "X-Men." He wasn't the first actor considered for Wolverine, and in fact he was brought on at the 11th hour when original actor Dougray Scott dropped out in favor of "Mission: Impossible II." Jackman's breakout performance made him an in-demand Hollywood heavyweight practically overnight. But as much as it was good fortune and circumstance, Jackman's casting as Wolverine also saved him from deportation.

The year was 1999, and Jackman was coming from his audition in Toronto — where he'd just been told he had secured the part of Logan — when he was confronted by officials about the status of his visa. Likely still nervous about joining the principal cast of a major movie, Jackman's nerves got a jolt when a customs officer told him that because he didn't have active employment he couldn't stay in the country.

Speaking on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," Jackman revealed just how serious the situation was. "That guy literally is like ... 'This is serious! You have no rights here! You have no phone calls!'" Jackman said. "He said, 'Listen, we're probably going to send you back on a plane.'" Thankfully, the officer was a comic book fan, and when Jackman told him he'd just signed on to play Wolverine, he was given a pass — in exchange for a few autographs from the future Marvel hero.

If getting the gig playing Wolverine in the first "X-Men" movie wasn't enough of a challenge for him, keeping the job proved just as difficult. For starters, Hugh Jackman himself has admitted that he somewhat over-promised when asked if he could be ripped like a superhero by the time cameras rolled, and he showed up on set not nearly there. As a result, the film had to push back filming his shirtless sequences to give him more time, believe it or not.

But that wasn't the worst of it. Midway through filming, Jackman found his job in jeopardy. "I was told that things weren't really working out as they hoped," he said in 2019 (via We Got This Covered). "I was about to get fired from my first Hollywood movie — the biggest of my career." Stressed and angry, Jackman was at a crossroads, but thankfully he found support from his then-wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, whom he turned to for advice. With his wife's counsel, Jackman learned to trust his instincts and stop being concerned about what might happen with his job. "To me that was love," he said of his wife's support. "Someone that believes in you when you don't fully believe in yourself."

Playing Wolverine wasn't just about delivering a strong performance as the wild-haired, rage-fueled mutant. It was also about looking and sounding the part. For the "looks" part, Hugh Jackman had to repeatedly work out to get into superhero shape for every movie, even getting ripped again for "Deadpool & Wolverine." But his work didn't stop there — he also had to perform Logan's deep, gravelly voice, which was a far cry from the actor's ordinary, vibrant vocals. The demands of the vocal performance, along with the intense physical regimen he needs to stay in top shape, earned him a spot on our list of actors who permanently damaged their bodies for a role.

"I've done some damage to my voice with Wolverine," Jackman said in an interview aired on BBC Radio 4's "Front Row" in 2023. "My falsetto is not as strong as it used to be, and that I directly put down to some of the growling and yelling." Though he's certainly proud of his performance, his drama school voice teacher probably wouldn't be so happy. All that damage couldn't have helped Jackman in 2015 when he suffered a vocal hemorrhage, forcing him to cancel a series of stage performances. 

Hugh Jackman has struggled with skin cancer several times throughout his life. Specifically, Jackman had basal cell carcinoma in 2013 and had another scare in 2023. Wall Street Dermatology says that this cancer is the most common in the world and that it is luckily very treatable. According to the outlet, while the cancer is often caused by cumulative sun exposure, it's rarely fatal, though it can be harmful when it occurs on a sensitive part of the body.

In 2023, Jackman had suspicious skin symptoms that his doctor tested for cancer, but he'd gotten negative biopsy results before the news even hit the press. That was a decade after his first run-in with the carcinoma when he received a positive test result and underwent treatment on his nose in 2013. He has since had at least six procedures for treatment. The actor also uses his platform to encourage people to protect their skin. "Please wear sunscreen. It is just not worth it. No matter how much you want a tan. Just trust me, trust me, trust me," he said on Instagram.

It may seem hard to believe but when Hugh Jackman first met his wife Deborra Lee-Furness, their dynamic was quite different than you'd imagine. The year was 1995, and the future "X-Men" star was a fresh-faced newcomer to acting while she was an established Australian star who'd already appeared in a number of TV and movie projects.

Meeting on the set of the Australian TV series "Corelli," the pair married a year later. But when it came to starting a family, they had a little more trouble than they had falling in love. According to the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, up to 15% of heterosexual couples experience such infertility, but that fact didn't make it any easier for them. "We struggled, a couple miscarriages, IVF," Jackman said in a chat with "The Jess Cagle Interview" in 2017 (via People). "It's not easy, particularly on Deb."

In the end, the couple chose to go a different route to grow their family, opting to adopt. The two are now parents to Oscar and Ava, who are both today well into adulthood. "Our motivation behind adopting was, 'Where is the need?'" Jackman said. "I want to tell my kids that ... it doesn't matter what sexual [orientation] you are ... it doesn't matter whether your hair is straight or curly, if you're tall or short, man or woman, what race you are. What defines you as a human being is underneath all that."

In Hollywood, there aren't many high-profile couples whose marriages have truly stood the test of time, as the life of a star is a complicated one. For decades, though, Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Jackman were among those few. Meeting when Jackman was working his very first role out of drama school, they remained together through his meteoric rise to superstardom. They built a family together and could have been considered one of the last bastions of true Hollywood love. Sadly, it didn't last forever.

Despite their many years of matrimony, Jackman and his wife announced their separation in 2023. "We have been blessed to share almost 3 decades together as husband and wife in a wonderful, loving marriage," the pair said in a statement (via People). "Our journey now is shifting and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth."

As one might imagine, the split wasn't an easy one, and a source close to the couple revealed that both Jackman and Furness were "devastated" by the separation. Nevertheless, both have expressed a desire to remain not just on good terms but remain a family, even if they aren't married. "Our family has been and always will be our highest priority," they stated. "We undertake this next chapter with gratitude, love, and kindness."

Growing up in Australia, Hugh Jackman was without his mother for most of his childhood after she left for the United Kingdom. Little Hugh was left behind to be raised by his father and later his stepmother. Jackman maintained a close relationship with his parents as he got older, and he invited his father to sets frequently. Christopher Jackman would usually sit quietly to the side, working on crossword puzzles. But in 2021, Hugh Jackman was dealt a crushing blow while filming the drama "The Son" when his father passed away.

Christopher Jackman had been the rock of the clan for years, and Hugh — midway through filming one of his most emotionally difficult projects — took it hard. It was a heartbreaking time for the actor, who thankfully had a supportive crew and the aid of on-set mental health professionals — as well as his family and friends. As fate would have it, his father's passing came on Father's Day, and Jackman posted a poignant farewell on Instagram. "My Dad was, in a word, extraordinary. He devoted his life to his family, his work and his faith. I pray he is now at peace with God."

The death of Hugh Jackman's father isn't the only recent tragedy that the actor has endured. A few years after his dad's death, a good friend and colleague also died, deeply affecting the star. That colleague was Ray Chan, a visual artist who worked for Marvel Studios and who'd served as art director on a variety of Hollywood classics including "Children of Men," "Blood Diamond," and "Guardians of the Galaxy" among many others.

Chan worked as a production designer on the actor's latest Marvel effort, "Deadpool & Wolverine." But just a few months before the film was released, Chan died at the age of 56. His Marvel friends, including "Deadpool" star Ryan Reynolds, were the first to speak about the enormity of the loss. Studio president Kevin Feige released a statement praising Chan's work, saying, "He will be missed by everyone at Marvel."

Jackman posted a message of mourning on his social media. "I am devastated to hear of the tragic news about Ray Chan," Jackman began in his Instagram story (via the Metro). "There was not a day shooting when I didn't marvel at what he created. He created magic. There was this look in his eyes. The look of a man who loved his craft."