They’ve been married for over two decades and it looks like there’s still plenty of love between Hugh Jackman and his glamorous wife Deborra-Lee Furness. The talented singer and actor, who has been touring around his home country with ‘The Man, The Music, The Show’, paid tribute to his wife of 23 years on Tuesday night during the Brisbane leg of his concert.
“A few times in my life I’ve known things like for sure… one of those was Deb,” he gushed to the crowd. “I knew very early on in our relationship we were going to spend the rest of our lives together. I could feel it.” Hugh then told the crowd at his Brisbane show that he almost didn’t make the cut as Wolverine in X-Men.
“I went home to Deb and started whinging about everything… And she listened to me very patiently for about an hour and finally she just said, ‘Listen, I think you have just got to trust yourself. You are worrying way too much about what everything else is thinking. Just go back to the character, focus on that, trust your instinct. You’ve got this.'”
He continued, before dedicating his next song to his lovely wife: “And to me that is love. Someone who believes in you when you don’t really believe in yourself. This whole show is dedicated to Deb and the kids.” The actors met on the set of the Australian drama Corelli in 1995, and have two children together, Oscar, 18, and Ava, 12. Hugh is not shy about expressing his love and devotion for his wife, and by the looks of things, these two are going stronger than ever
Last year, while accepting the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film for his contribution to cinema at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, Hugh teared up when talking about his wife of 23 years, saying she taught him that life is “not defined” by highlight reels.
“Life actually happens in between that. Life happens when the camera is not going,” he said. “You believed in me when I couldn’t. You’ve loved me with a passion and a depth that I didn’t even know existed — and I don’t think I felt that I deserved. You have pushed and encouraged me when I was scared to venture out. You have smiled me into smiling. You have sung me into singing. You have loved me into loving and like everything I do in my life, I share this with you. I love you.”
It has been a whirlwind few days for Hugh who showed off his compassionate side once again after he shared a tender moment with a fan onstage after spotting the woman, who is fighting breast cancer, in the crowd during the Perth leg of his concert last month. During the concert, the Aussie legend jumped off stage to talk to a fan named Kylie Beard, who was holding a sign that read: “Please huge me, Hugh. My boobs are trying to kill me.”
In a video, which has since been shared online, Hugh can be seen embracing the woman, who told the star and audience: “I have my last treatment of chemo on the 29th. They found out I had the BRCA [breast cancer] gene.” She then joked: “So they’re taking my boobs off and I’ll get some new ones from the fat I’m sucking in right now.”
Visibly moved by the woman’s words, Hugh then praised Kylie for her ongoing bravery, as the crowd erupted into a stream of applause, adding: “We love you and thank you so much for being here and celebrating with us.”
Social media users have since praised the famous actor for his sweet gesture, while others wished the best for Kylie and her ongoing treatment. “What a wonderful wonderful man Hugh is …. A hug from him would cure you for ever,” one commentator wrote. “All the very best to you also Kylie, I hope everything turns out just fine for you.”
Another added: “Wishing you all the very best in your journey to over come this hideous disease.Hugh Jackman a marvellous bloke.” While a third wrote: “Hugh Jackman, you are an absolute wonderful human being.”