Hugh Jackman Once Read His Own Movie Script to His Kid as a Bedtime Story
Hugh Jackman raised two kids with ex-wife Deborra Lee Furness before the couple’s divorce. His children not only had an impact on their father’s life, but they once even affected his film choices.
Hugh Jackman did this movie after hearing his child’s feedback
Jackman and his ex-wife Lee Furness share two kids together. They adopted Oscar in the year 2000, and their daughter Ava in 2005. In a 2011 interview with Collider, Jackman gave a little insight into his family home life. The Greatest Showman star did whatever he could to ensure that he and his family spent quality time together.
“Well, a buddy of mine had a rule, which I stole, which is no screens during the week, so no TV or computer, or anything like that,” Jackman said. “Really, kids nowadays, unlike us, have very little time. They seem to be at school longer. They have after school activities. By the time you’ve eaten, showered and dressed, it’s over. So, there’s not much time for it, anyways. I’ve got to be honest, I know a lot of my son’s friends are right into it, but he’s a natural born artist. If I was born now, I would be fully hooked on every video game going. I have no doubt.”
It seemed that his children had no problem following these rules. His older son Oscar even encouraged them.
“He sometimes reminds me. I’ll ask him, ‘Hey, you want to play on the Wii?’ I love the Wii tennis. I’ll say, ‘Do you want to play me?’ He’ll say, ‘Dad, it’s a beautiful day. Let’s go outside.’ And, I’ll go, ‘All right, yeah.’ I don’t worry for him, so much. Ava, on the other hand, is different. She’s only six, so she’s not really into video games, but Ava is the only kid that I’ve seen that, when she watches a movie, she has tears running down her face because she doesn’t blink,” he said.
But another activity that Jackman might’ve done with his kids was read them bedtime stories. Instead of reading Oscar a fairytale, however, Jackman read his son the script for the project Real Steel. The 2010 movie was a sci-fi feature that saw Jackman playing a retired boxer building a fighting robot to take his place. In a resurfaced interview with Daily Record (via Irish Examiner), Jackman revealed how Oscar convinced him to do the film.
“I got to the end of the scene and Oscar was still awake,” Jackman said. “He told me to keep going and when we got through it, he said, ‘Dad, you have to do this.’”
Did Hugh Jackman’s kids affect his film career?
Other than Real Steel, it doesn’t seem like his kids had that much impact on Jackman’s movie choices. Although Jackman admitted he did lend his voice to animated projects thanks to his family.
“Truthfully, not really. It’s icing on the cake. Sometimes those animated movies, absolutely. I do that because I know my kids will love it and it’s nice, but no, not really,” he said. “My kids are not that interested in my movie career, by the way. My son, in particular, never talks about it. He just wants me as his dad. I’m never in that position where I’m like, Oh, this is going to make him happy. It’s almost like I’m fully aware that they want to push that to the side. But, it was a great moment to be able to sit with all three generations, loving that movie.”
On the other hand, Jackman’s film choices could sometimes make family activities more fun. For instance, the actor was able to give his son a very memorable Halloween thanks to his involvement in the X-Men movies. Before Jackman wore the yellow spandex in Deadpool & Wolverine, his Wolverine was best known for sporting his leather costume. Jackman had some of the franchise’s make-up crew give his son a similar Wolverine costume that blew most kids’ Halloween wardrobe out of the water.
“Totally spoilt – every other kid has the stupid thing with the plastic, elastic thing or whatever, and the claws that don’t work and look ridiculous. He had the full thing, right? All custom-made leather. And I was behind him and I had – not hair and make-up – but I had claws,” Jackman said in a separate interview with Collider.
