X-Men: Days of Future Past star Hugh Jackman may play a tough guy on the big screen, but when it comes to his wife Deborra-Lee Furness, he can't help but wear his emotions on his sleeve. In the October 2015 cover issue of Parade, Jackman talks about his adoration for his wife of nearly 20 years, their unfortunate troubles with miscarriage and why they decided to adopt.
The 46-year-old actor met his 59-year-old actress and director wife on the set of an Australian television series called Correlli in 1995. This was Jackman's first acting job and he didn't want to screw things up on set by revealing his crush on the star of the show. After months of awkwardness and then avoiding conversation with her for a week, he finally got the courage to profess his feelings for her.
"When I met Deb, I knew immediately I was going to marry her," Jackman said to Parade. "I forced myself to wait six months because I thought, 'Maybe it is infatuation. I'm too young to know.' It was ridiculous. Every day love just got deeper. I felt a complete trust with her to be exactly who I am. I don't have to be any other version of Hugh Jackman for her to love me."
A photo posted by Hugh Jackman (@thehughjackman) on Sep 17, 2015 at 4:01am PDT
The Prisoners star wed the woman of his dreams in a spring wedding on April 11, 1996 in Melbourne, Australia. The two looked forward to expanding their family but ultimately suffered heartache with problem pregnancies. Furness reportedly suffered through two miscarriages.
Despite the difficulties they faced while trying to conceive a biological child together, Jackman said that they always planned to adopt children into their family. Jackman was brought up in a large family consisting of five children, two of whom were adopted. The couple shared similar views on adoption, believing it would be a "natural mix" to have a family of both adopted and biological children.
"Yes. It was a hard time. We went through IVF [in vitro fertilization]. Deb doesn't give up. At a certain point I was like, 'Deb, let's adopt now.' In Australia at the time, you couldn't do IVF and adopt simultaneously. So we adopted, and it has been the greatest, most fulfilling and challenging role of our lives."
The Sydney, Australia natives adopted two mixed-race children: Oscar Maxmillian and Ava Elliot. In a 2009 interview with People, Jackman admitted their choice to adopt biracial children was a "no brainer," because many of them were being overlooked by families. A Los Angeles adoption official once told Jackman that many biracial children are turned away, because there was a lack of families looking to take them home.
Jackman loves being a father and is hoping he can instill some humble values into his children, despite them growing up in the public eye. As parents, they worry the children will form a sense of entitlement. Jackman wants his kids to live a normal life, which includes respecting others and enjoying their childhood to the fullest.
"I constantly talk to them about respect and gratitude. I say, 'Unfortunately, I'm going to be tougher on you than I would be if I wasn't famous, because people are actually going to be less tough on you in life.' In a way they have to be better behaved, be more respectful, have more gratitude than other kids. I try to keep their life as down-to-earth as possible. I really do."
