The Jackman Family

[mamaleh]

That's Shawn Levy on the left, correct? And I assume the girl is his daughter?

Ellen

[jo]

It's Shawn Levy ( according to one site which identified him as part of the group). It is likely his daughter. I was trying to recall where I had seen her. Go back to Real Steel - she was the oldest girl who wanted to photograph the robot...and later on. was one of the group looking at the robot when Charlie was trying to persuade Max to give him one last chance. If you look at the cast listing, Shawn had asked his daughters to be part of the movie

[jo]

We know much of their story by heart, but here Hugh shares a bit more on him, Deb, and family --

Meet Mr. Romance: Hugh Jackman

By Sheila Weller






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Reeling From the Rumors

This past spring, their lives were upset when a troubled woman stalked the family, ultimately bolting into the gym where the Wolverine star was working out and saying, "We're getting married, right?" Katherine Thurston, the stalker (who has pleaded not guilty), was taken into temporary custody while awaiting her next court date, and the family could breathe a sigh of relief.

Less perilous, but more lingering, is the impact of gossip: Over the years, some websites have printed tiresome speculation that Jackman is gay—those almost knee-jerk rumors lobbed at many sexy actors. Jackman just tunes it out: "I don't really pay attention. If someone's going to spend their time saying, 'You're really not 6' 2"; you're 5' 10",' " he says, using height as an analogy for sexual orientation, "I'll tell them once, 'I am 6' 2".' Then, whatever you want to believe, it's up to you. Am I going to waste energy going, 'I'm so mad that this person says I'm 5' 10"?' " He shakes his head. "We really only get mad when there's an element of truth, right?"

By not reading the gossip, he also avoids the nasty comments about the fact that his wife is older than he is and has womanly curves (versus being an ultra-skinny size 0). And this is a good thing, because any criticism of Furness really gets him going. "If anyone meets my wife, they're like, 'You're all right, Hugh, but your wife is awesome.' Everyone who meets her loves her. So it's just wrong. It almost makes me sad for the people [saying those things]. They're obviously in a bad place."

Still, the gossip takes its toll on Furness, who is less successful at tuning it out. "I don't want her perturbed; I worry for her," Jackman says. What angers her most are the rumors that their marriage is a sham. "She's a justice freak," he says. "When she hears the gossip, she finds it hard to shut up about it. It's frustrating that she doesn't have a voice in the situation."

Jackman's remedy: He lets Furness vent to him and listens sympathetically: "I know she's always right when she says, 'Just. Listen!' "And for his part, he hears her out and empathizes without jumping in and trying to resolve the issue.

"We talk about everything all the time," says Jackman, noting that they often take nighttime walks with the dog in tow and chat about their days. "The bedrock of any relationship is to communicate, and Deb and I have always done that, discussing whatever's going on, good or bad." And their marriage—like all unions—has had its highs and lows.

Creating Their Clan

When Jackman and Furness married in 1996, they wanted to start a family right away. Their plan was to have biological children and then adopt. "That was something both of us had always dreamed about," Jackman says. "One of the families I used to stay with when my parents separated had five kids; two were adopted, so it didn't seem abnormal to me."

Since Furness was 40, they tried to get pregnant for about a year, then started in vitro fertilization. Twice she became pregnant; twice she miscarried. "It's a tough process," Jackman says. "While you're going through IVF and get pregnant, every day [the feeling is], We're still holding! We're still holding…! You know how precarious it is and how much she's been through to get there. And [miscarriage] is a massive letdown. It's really difficult—and much harder for the woman." After their second miscarriage, "I just remember saying to Deb, 'We've always wanted to adopt. Let's start going about that,' " he recalls. Furness agreed, but decided she wanted to continue the IVF efforts.

However, Jackman shares, "there was a rule in Australia at the time that if you were going through IVF, you weren't eligible to adopt." They set their sights on going to the United States, both because that rule didn't apply there and because the pool of adoptable babies was much larger.

This was about 14 years ago. Jackman was all but an unknown in the U.S. "We came to L.A. for a week to meet with an adoption lawyer," he recalls. The couple thought it would just be a brief visit, but that trip wound up jump-starting their lives as parents—and Jackman's stardom.

Since they were already in Hollywood, Jackman made an out-of-the-blue call to his U.S. agent. The timing was serendipitous. Just that morning, the agent had heard that an actor had dropped out of the lead role in a movie based on the comic book series X-Men. Would Jackman like to go up for it? he asked. A meeting turned into more meetings and a screen test, which turned into a trip to Toronto, where the movie was filming ("We had to buy clothes; it was snowing," Jackman adds)—and all of a sudden, a starring role was his. The salary, in turn, helped further his and Furness's family plan, because "adopting does cost a bit of money and I really didn't have any at the time," Jackman says.

As they worked with their adoption lawyer, Jackman says they wanted a baby most in need of a home; he has called it a "no-brainer" to ask for an interracial baby: "People wait 18 months to adopt a little blond girl, while biracial children are turned away." Still, they were rejected by a few birth mothers' parents who didn't want to give a child to "those Hollywood types who never stay together."

Finally, in the spring of 2000, they received news of a baby about to be born; he or she would be "a bit of everything," as Jackman has put it: "African-American, Caucasian, Hawaiian, Cherokee." When Oscar arrived, the couple were ecstatic. "Deb and I both thought, 'This is our destiny.' " Indeed, the trip to L.A. had catalyzed Jackman's career in the U.S. and had given them the baby they had so yearned for. "It was as if Oscar was going, All right. I'd better look after you guys," reflects Jackman. Five years later, they adopted Ava—half Mexican, half German—at 4 days old, and their family was complete.

The family's bond is superhero strong, no matter where Jackman is filming. "Skype has changed our lives! It's one of the greatest inventions of all time," he raves. Of course, his kids don't always think so, he adds. He Skypes when on location; he eats in front of it, and they do, too. "So I'll have dinner with them and then say, 'Hey, take your plate to the sink!' And they're like, 'Ugh, Dad's such a pain.' "

Jackman is the family disciplinarian—which figures, given his upbringing—and Furness, who was an only child until her mother remarried and step-siblings entered the picture, is more spontaneous. They complement each other well. "Oscar and Ava fight, like all kids fight," Jackman says. "But it really disturbs my wife: 'Why aren't they getting on? Oh, my God! It's going to be years of therapy—they're saying terrible things to each other!' But I look at it like, 'This is nothing! This is amateur hour!' My brother and I were clawing each other's eyes out at one point," he explains, laughing at the memory.

Though he may have two Tony awards and an Oscar nod, it's clear that Jackman's favorite times aren't in front of the camera, but with his wife and kids. As he puts it, "The most pressing thing for Deb and me now? Helping the kids reach their potential. And having fun."


Read more: Hugh Jackman on Wife and Rumors - Hugh Jackman on Marriage and Family - Good Housekeeping
Follow us: @goodhousemag on Twitter | GOODHOUSEKEEPING on Facebook
Visit us at GoodHouseKeeping.com

[jo]

We know much of their story by heart, but here Hugh shares a bit more on him, Deb, and family --

Meet Mr. Romance: Hugh Jackman

Abandoned by his mom. Stalked by a fan. Plagued by gossip. Here, Hugh Jackman shares how he found his Zen place… and how he keeps his marriage so sacred (and sexy!).

By Sheila Weller




Here's how we're used to seeing hunky male superstars in their downtime: tuxedoed up on the red carpet, holding hands with pencil-thin beauties. Or driving absurdly expensive cars through Beverly Hills. Or, bleary-eyed, exiting ultra-exclusive nightclubs at 3 A.M.

Not Hugh Jackman. The Oscar nominee and Tony winner, 44, who moved us to tears in Les Misérables and who stars this summer in The Wolverine as the hirsute X-Men superhero, is an almost shockingly normal family guy. He's snapped by paparazzi walking around his New York City neighborhood in well-worn jeans and a sweatshirt. He might be clasping the hand of his daughter, Ava, 8, and holding her scooter as they head for a park. In other shots, he's walking with his son Oscar, 13, or strolling arm in arm with his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, 57, a glamorous platinum (yet refreshingly real-bodied) blond. There's one constant in these photos: Jackman looks completely content.

His path to this happy place wasn't easy. A bumpy childhood in a fractured household—one in which faith was a hugely helpful element—led him to focus on total togetherness with his wife and kids. Jackman is fiercely protective, guarding them from the downsides of celebrity. Yet somehow that protectiveness hasn't cramped their lives or made him any less sunny. As he sits in the green room of a radio station, his friendly, Wolverine-bearded face lights up, and he waves his muscled arms around energetically as he talks about his clan in jaunty Australian cadences.

Oscar and Ava, both adopted, are the apples of his eye. "Ava's really social. She's a mini Deb—she's up for anything," Jackman says. "And if there are three things to do in the afternoon, she'll make it five." Oscar is a young idealist. Jackman has made it a rule that both kids must do volunteer work when they turn 13, so his son, who loves plants ("He can give you the botanical name of every tree in Central Park," Jackman says proudly), is helping tend a nearby park's garden. But he put his foot down on weeding, on moral grounds: Oscar "wanted to know, who's to decide one plant is right and one plant is wrong? They're all part of nature in his book!" says Jackman, obviously charmed.

This kind of closeness doesn't happen by accident. Even during the arduous filming of Les Misérables in England, Jackman says he and Furness followed their unbreakable marriage rule: Jackman will never be apart from his family for more than two weeks. Even if it's only for 36 hours, he will jet home from a film set. The rule was Furness's idea. "When I met her," Jackman explains, "she'd already done about 20 movies," and she understood distance's effect on intimacy. "She said, 'It's not that I think you're going to go off with a costar, or vice versa. But people get used to living apart. You get used to handling a problem yourself.' " Relationships crumble that way, and the actor had already seen one crucial union deeply hurt by distance.

Lonely Boy

The youngest of five children, Jackman was born to parents who had moved from England to Australia before he was born. When he was 8, because of conflicts within the marriage and because her own mother was very sick in England, his mom, Grace, moved back to her home country, leaving her accountant husband, Christopher, in charge of the children almost all year (she'd return for several weeks in the summer; Jackman has fond memories of those visits).

It was undeniably painful for Jackman. "I was embarrassed," he says of the situation. "I felt everyone was looking at me, like it was a weird thing. Some divorce, obviously, was happening, but it wasn't so prevalent then, and it was never [with] the mother leaving."

Then there were other swirling emotions: "I was sad. And upset. And I wanted her to come back." Plus, he was lonely. Being the youngest, he was the first home from school, and sometimes he couldn't bear to walk into the empty house—he just waited outside for an older sibling to arrive.

Because Jackman, like any child, wanted to believe his parents' separation was only temporary, a flicker of hope came when he was 12. His father went to England to try to win back his wife: "They almost reconciled—I remember being so happy." But when his dad returned a mere five days later—alone—Jackman knew it wasn't happening.

"I was really mad," he says. But his anger at the situation didn't turn into venom toward his mother, with whom he is happily in touch today. He understands her. "My mum and I are, in many ways, quite similar," he stresses. "We're both creative, gregarious, and energetic."

As he got older, Grace encouraged him to express his feelings to her. "She would say, 'I know that you'll be angry. I know you'll have this issue. Let's just talk it through,' " he explains.

He gained new perspective as he matured. "The older you get—the more times you have your heart broken and you break someone else's heart," he says, "[the more you realize], Mom and Dad did their best with what they had. I understand why people would say to me, 'I don't know how you'd ever talk to her again,' but what happened was about their marriage, not their parenting."

In fact, he says, pausing to pull into focus a comforting truth, "I always felt love from both my parents."

Jackman's father gave his youngest son a grounding in faith and values that nurtured him through hard times. Although both Jackman's parents were very religious early on, Christopher Jackman was the parent whose faith deepened over the years.

"My father is very Jean Valjean," Jackman says, referring to his own character in Les Misérables. "He's what I would call a great example of a religious person. He is a deeply thoughtful man whose religion is in his deeds way more than anything else. It's not talked about that much.

"I remember at one point being in fellowship," he continues, "and everyone used to wear the fish symbol; it said you were a Christian. So I asked my father, 'Dad, why don't you wear that at work?' And he said, 'Your religion should be in your actions.' He set a great, great example."

Jackman's father also taught him responsibility. With five kids and a heavy work schedule that often had him traveling, he made sure the children shared the load. "From when I was very young, I had chores every day. I had to cook dinner, or no one ate," Jackman says.

Beyond that, Jackman's father—who had grown up during the Depression—taught his brood about thrift. "When I was 5, my father used to sit me down and explain that from my dollar a week, I should set aside 10% for church, 20% for entertainment, and 10% for savings."

Armed with these valuable life lessons, Jackman was ready to find his place in the world when, fired up by his love of performing, he left home, pursuing an arts degree in college and then drama school.

Meeting His Match

In October 1994, Jackman, 26, a freshly minted drama-school grad, went to audition for a new Australian TV show, Correlli. He tried not to show how nervous he was. The drama was set to star Deborra-Lee Furness, a blond beauty with a husky voice, as prison psychologist Louisa Correlli. Furness, then 39, was a top actress in Australia, and Jackman was up against some of the country's megastars for the role of Kevin Jones, the mentally challenged prisoner who forms a bond with Correlli that nearly leads to her professional undoing. In their first scene together (it can be found on YouTube), Correlli is compassionately interviewing Jones, who radiates charisma—helped along by an earlier lingering shot of him shirtless—and the pair's chemistry is on full display. "From day one, we were best mates," Jackman says, putting a wholesome gloss on their electric attraction. "We just clicked. We were giggling and laughing—we just connected."

They fell in love—fast. Jackman was and is clearly head over heels. He explains, "Deb is the last one to bed and the first one up in the morning. You know those dolls that, when you lie them down, their eyes close? And as soon as they're vertical, their eyes open? That's Deb. It's almost annoying. She has two speeds: Stop and Go. She is always, 'Let's do this, let's do that.' And she is very funny, very quick."

Three and a half months after they met, Jackman had a platinum and rose-gold diamond ring specially made for Furness. Soon thereafter—with his self-confessed romantic streak blazing—he planned a surprise proposal. He enlisted a friend's help to set an elegant table with croissants and flowers by a lake at a botanical garden and then lured Furness there on the pretext of taking an A.M. walk. When they came upon the table, "Deb just stopped and said, 'Oh, my God, it's gorgeous,' " he says. As if in a chick flick, a group of school girls arrived and watched. "And I whispered in her ear, 'Surprise,' " Jackman says; he pulled the ring out and proposed. Furness started to cry, but then the schoolgirls asked her, "What did you say?" With theatrical flair, "Deb stood on top of the table and called out, 'I said yes!' " he recounts. Eleven months later, in April 1996, they were married.

That sneak-attack element has become Jackman's calling card with Furness. "My number one rule for romance is surprise," he says, since predictable gestures of romance defeat the purpose. "If I bring Deb flowers every Tuesday, yeah, it's nice, but is it romantic?" Especially when a couple has children, "so much of life is about your routine," he says, and a surprise shakes things up and restores the thrill. Recently, for example, when Jackman got off early from work in Montreal, "I pretended I was still on the set. I called Deb and said, 'I'll be back late tonight.' " Then he appeared hours earlier than she expected. "And she got such a shock. I'd made reservations at our favorite lunch place," he says. "It was three hours before the kids finished school, and it was awesome because it was unplanned."

And for a surprise Mother's Day gift, Jackman stealthily snagged a beautiful heart-shaped artwork that Furness's favorite fashion designer, Oscar de la Renta, had crafted for charity. She received another treat that day, too: Her husband whipped up some special ricotta pancakes—"I got the recipe from our favorite breakfast place in Sydney, Bills. She just loves it." But as happy as the Jackmans are, and as normal as they may strive to be, celebrity has its drawbacks.

Reeling from the Rumors


This past spring, their lives were upset when a troubled woman stalked the family, ultimately bolting into the gym where the Wolverine star was working out and saying, "We're getting married, right?" Katherine Thurston, the stalker (who has pleaded not guilty), was taken into temporary custody while awaiting her next court date, and the family could breathe a sigh of relief.

Less perilous, but more lingering, is the impact of gossip: Over the years, some websites have printed tiresome speculation that Jackman is gay—those almost knee-jerk rumors lobbed at many sexy actors. Jackman just tunes it out: "I don't really pay attention. If someone's going to spend their time saying, 'You're really not 6' 2"; you're 5' 10",' " he says, using height as an analogy for sexual orientation, "I'll tell them once, 'I am 6' 2".' Then, whatever you want to believe, it's up to you. Am I going to waste energy going, 'I'm so mad that this person says I'm 5' 10"?' " He shakes his head. "We really only get mad when there's an element of truth, right?"

By not reading the gossip, he also avoids the nasty comments about the fact that his wife is older than he is and has womanly curves (versus being an ultra-skinny size 0). And this is a good thing, because any criticism of Furness really gets him going. "If anyone meets my wife, they're like, 'You're all right, Hugh, but your wife is awesome.' Everyone who meets her loves her. So it's just wrong. It almost makes me sad for the people [saying those things]. They're obviously in a bad place."

Still, the gossip takes its toll on Furness, who is less successful at tuning it out. "I don't want her perturbed; I worry for her," Jackman says. What angers her most are the rumors that their marriage is a sham. "She's a justice freak," he says. "When she hears the gossip, she finds it hard to shut up about it. It's frustrating that she doesn't have a voice in the situation."

Jackman's remedy: He lets Furness vent to him and listens sympathetically: "I know she's always right when she says, 'Just. Listen!' "And for his part, he hears her out and empathizes without jumping in and trying to resolve the issue.

"We talk about everything all the time," says Jackman, noting that they often take nighttime walks with the dog in tow and chat about their days. "The bedrock of any relationship is to communicate, and Deb and I have always done that, discussing whatever's going on, good or bad." And their marriage—like all unions—has had its highs and lows.

Creating Their Clan

When Jackman and Furness married in 1996, they wanted to start a family right away. Their plan was to have biological children and then adopt. "That was something both of us had always dreamed about," Jackman says. "One of the families I used to stay with when my parents separated had five kids; two were adopted, so it didn't seem abnormal to me."

Since Furness was 40, they tried to get pregnant for about a year, then started in vitro fertilization. Twice she became pregnant; twice she miscarried. "It's a tough process," Jackman says. "While you're going through IVF and get pregnant, every day [the feeling is], We're still holding! We're still holding…! You know how precarious it is and how much she's been through to get there. And [miscarriage] is a massive letdown. It's really difficult—and much harder for the woman." After their second miscarriage, "I just remember saying to Deb, 'We've always wanted to adopt. Let's start going about that,' " he recalls. Furness agreed, but decided she wanted to continue the IVF efforts.

However, Jackman shares, "there was a rule in Australia at the time that if you were going through IVF, you weren't eligible to adopt." They set their sights on going to the United States, both because that rule didn't apply there and because the pool of adoptable babies was much larger.

This was about 14 years ago. Jackman was all but an unknown in the U.S. "We came to L.A. for a week to meet with an adoption lawyer," he recalls. The couple thought it would just be a brief visit, but that trip wound up jump-starting their lives as parents—and Jackman's stardom.

Since they were already in Hollywood, Jackman made an out-of-the-blue call to his U.S. agent. The timing was serendipitous. Just that morning, the agent had heard that an actor had dropped out of the lead role in a movie based on the comic book series X-Men. Would Jackman like to go up for it? he asked. A meeting turned into more meetings and a screen test, which turned into a trip to Toronto, where the movie was filming ("We had to buy clothes; it was snowing," Jackman adds)—and all of a sudden, a starring role was his. The salary, in turn, helped further his and Furness's family plan, because "adopting does cost a bit of money and I really didn't have any at the time," Jackman says.

As they worked with their adoption lawyer, Jackman says they wanted a baby most in need of a home; he has called it a "no-brainer" to ask for an interracial baby: "People wait 18 months to adopt a little blond girl, while biracial children are turned away." Still, they were rejected by a few birth mothers' parents who didn't want to give a child to "those Hollywood types who never stay together."

Finally, in the spring of 2000, they received news of a baby about to be born; he or she would be "a bit of everything," as Jackman has put it: "African-American, Caucasian, Hawaiian, Cherokee." When Oscar arrived, the couple were ecstatic. "Deb and I both thought, 'This is our destiny.' " Indeed, the trip to L.A. had catalyzed Jackman's career in the U.S. and had given them the baby they had so yearned for. "It was as if Oscar was going, All right. I'd better look after you guys," reflects Jackman. Five years later, they adopted Ava—half Mexican, half German—at 4 days old, and their family was complete.

The family's bond is superhero strong, no matter where Jackman is filming. "Skype has changed our lives! It's one of the greatest inventions of all time," he raves. Of course, his kids don't always think so, he adds. He Skypes when on location; he eats in front of it, and they do, too. "So I'll have dinner with them and then say, 'Hey, take your plate to the sink!' And they're like, 'Ugh, Dad's such a pain.' "

Jackman is the family disciplinarian—which figures, given his upbringing—and Furness, who was an only child until her mother remarried and step-siblings entered the picture, is more spontaneous. They complement each other well. "Oscar and Ava fight, like all kids fight," Jackman says. "But it really disturbs my wife: 'Why aren't they getting on? Oh, my God! It's going to be years of therapy—they're saying terrible things to each other!' But I look at it like, 'This is nothing! This is amateur hour!' My brother and I were clawing each other's eyes out at one point," he explains, laughing at the memory.

Though he may have two Tony awards and an Oscar nod, it's clear that Jackman's favorite times aren't in front of the camera, but with his wife and kids. As he puts it, "The most pressing thing for Deb and me now? Helping the kids reach their potential. And having fun."


Read more: Hugh Jackman on Wife and Rumors - Hugh Jackman on Marriage and Family - Good Housekeeping
Follow us: @goodhousemag on Twitter | GOODHOUSEKEEPING on Facebook
Visit us at GoodHouseKeeping.com

Wolverine in "Good Housekeeping" ?


Jo

[apetricc12]

Great article!

Annette P

[jo]

Hugh Jackman‏@realhughjackman1h
Stumbled on the flagship Ugly Doll store while shopping in Seoul. #besttime #love! pic.twitter.com/zCWHQ4W5iK

Something for Ava ?


Jo

[rmtndew]

I've always loved the Ugly Dolls. Unfortunately my five year old niece won't let me buy her one. I'm glad at least Hugh agrees with me on them! lol

- Alicia

[jo]

With Mum, Grace. She attended the London premiere, too.

[mamaleh]

Every time I see a photo of "mum," I think, no wonder he's "naturally attuned" to her. He's the younger, male version of her.

Ellen

[annetter]

amazing how much they look alike. Same nose, and he says he gets the veins from her.

[caligirl]

Same ears too.

[JH4HJ]

Actor Hugh Jackman is talking in a self-admiring way and calls himself charming.

The 44-year-old also said that he loves playing characters who turn on the charm as he believes they are close to his own personality.

"I'm an actor, I can play charm. I'm very charming! I love what I do. I'm happiest doing this so that makes it a lot easier to charm people," femalefirst.co.uk quoted Jackman as saying.

Jackman's wife, actress Deborra-Lee Furness, supported his claim.

When she was told that she is lucky to have such a charming man in her life, she said: "I don't believe in luck. I would hope every wife in the world would say their husband is the most charming. I happen to think mine is very charming.

"I have a very sharing personality. I like to share him with the world!," she added.

The couple attended "The Wolverine" premiere at the Empire Cinema here. They were joined by other stars of the movie including Famke Janssen, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Will Yun Lee and director James Mangold.

Charming, yes! - Who would argue with that?
 ...and Deb, thanks for sharing.  

[JH4HJ]

A day out in The Hamptons, with the ever vigilant paparazzi...





More here:
the Australian star took a leisurely stroll around town

[mamaleh]

Hey, isn't that blasphemous? Oscar's wearing a Batman shirt, LOL.

Ellen

[jo]

A little update on Oscar and Ava --

www.celebritybabyscoop.com/2013/07/29/jackman-admit-cool

Even though Hugh Jackman’s movie The Wolverine is a hit at the box office – his kids aren’t too wowed over his success. According to People – the actor said that Oscar, 13, and Ava, 8, resist the urge to act like his biggest fans.

He said at The MOMS’ Mamarazzi event on Wednesday, “They’re not going to give that up to me. They’re not going to be like, ‘Yeah Dad, you’re the coolest! My son actually saw the movie, and I asked him what he thought, and he begrudgingly goes, ‘Oh, awesome.’”

The actor added, “He’s at that age where it can be embarrassing. He’s now like, ‘Can you please stop talking about me? This is killing my reputation. He wants me to be his dad. He doesn’t like when we get stopped on the street or when people recognize me.”

The 44-year-old also shared that Oscar is going to be an artist while Ava would be content “handling animals, cooking, singing and poetry.”

“That’s the great thing about parenting,” says Jackman, “You end up going places you never thought you’d go.”

Re the photos at the Hamptons - I wonder if they have finally decided to get a place there ( wasn't that reported that they were househunting there?)?

Jo

[jo]

Hugh Jackman‏@realhughjackman1m
My wife Deb is traveling w/President Clinton & the CGI team- 6 African countries in 8 days. Check out her blog: bit.ly/2xm37Z #CGI

[jo]

neoskosmos.com/news/en/hugh-jackman-declares-im-greek

Hugh Jackman declares "I'm Greek"


Australia's leading man has Greek roots

5 Aug 2013

He's sexy, he can act, dance and sing - and he can thank his Greek background for these numerous talents. Oscar nominated Australian actor Hugh Jackman has told Star TV journalist Elgka Ntaifa he's Greek.

"It is true that I have Greek roots," said the actor, on a media junket promoting the upcoming instalment of the Wolverine movie franchise.

"Two generations ago the name of my family was Bellas, and I feel that I am a Greek by blood."

It was less than five years ago when Jackman and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness and their two children were in Mykonos, invited to a private party by American fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger.

The Jackman clan then went for a mini excursion to Delos by boat and a trip to Matogianni for dinner.

In the interview with Star TV, Jackman said he was ready and willing to take up any acting opportunities there may be in Greek film.

"If there is a Greek filmmaker interested in a brunette Aussie, then let me know," said the Hollywood actor, who owes a part of his career in compatriot Russell Crowe.

It was Crowe's suggested for Jackman to play the Marvel Comic immortal hero Wolverine after he rejected the role himself.

"They suggest the role of Wolverine to him but rejected him and suggested me. And for that, I will forever be grateful," said Jackman. The two shared the silver screen together in the Oscar award winning musical Les Miserables.

Jo

[jo]

At the last Oscar --

[alma]

Indefatigable Deb in Zanzibar in her quest to help orphans and underprivileged children. What a Woman. With a capital W.

www.facebook.com/pages/Deborra-lee-Furness/138507156244180

smiley-hug006

Alma

Attachments:

[jo]

Hugh loves his food and beverages!

www.redbookmag.com/fun-contests/celebrity/hugh-jackman-laughing-man-coffee-interview?src=soc_twtr

Hugh Jackman: Secret Barista

He acts, he sings, he dances! And now the Australian star is...taking barista lessons? That's right, Hugh Jackman is in the coffee business. And he's giving back in a big way.

By Brittany Burke



My coffee company and New York City cafe, Laughing Man, does more than just caffeinate. I was in Ethiopia for World Vision [an organization that helps impoverished families worldwide] and spent a day with a coffee farmer named Dukale. He has six kids, works so hard, and is such a happy guy. It got me thinking that giving people a hand up, not a handout, is the way forward. I promised to help him, and Laughing Man is the result. All of our proceeds go to World Vision and similar organizations. (To order coffee or tea, go to livelaughingman.com.)



Australians are coffee snobs. An influx of Italian immigrants after World War II ensured that--we probably had the word cappuccino about 20 years before America. Cafe culture is really big for Aussies. We like to work hard, but we take our leisure time seriously.



Hanging out with chefs is inspiring. My friend Jean-Georges [Vongerichten] taught me that good produce makes all the difference in a meal. He shops at a farmers market every day, and he gets so excited about the look and smell of the radishes he buys. My food isn't nearly as good as his, but at least I know where to shop!



Breakfast is my specialty. I admit it's the easiest meal to cook, but I make everything with a twist, like lemon ricotta pancakes or bacon that's baked instead of fried.



4 THINGS YOU'LL ALWAYS FIND IN MY KITCHEN:

1. A coffee grinder. "I love the smell of ground coffee, so I have to do it myself."



2. A bread machine. "I put everything in at night, and it's ready to bake in the morning. I like wheat bread with nuts and raisins."



3. Throat coat tea. "My friend Sting introduced me to it, and now I think if I don't have it, I won't be able to sing. It's totally neurotic."



4. Dark chocolate. "70 percent or more, to eat late at night with my Throat Coat tea."



FUN FACTS ABOUT HUGH:

"We pay a more than fair price to farmers like Dukale for our coffee, and we know it's organic."



"One of my inspirations for Laughing Man was Paul Newman. He created a business that gives back in so many ways, and he did it perfectly."



"Australians have a coffee called a flat white. It's like a latte, but the milk is smooth, not foamy, so it tastes stronger and creamier."



"My 11-year-old son is an amazing cook. He woke up yesterday and made banana bread from scratch."



Hugh loves this breakfast recipe adapted from Bill Granger's Lemon Ricotta Hotcakes.



Ingredients
1-1/2 cups ricotta
1 tbsp. sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs, separated
1 cup plus two tablespoons of all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. grated lemon zest
unsalted butter (for cooking the pancakes)

Preparation
In a bowl, combine the ricotta, sugar, milk and egg yolks. Mix well and set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the ricotta mixture. Add the vanilla extract and orange zest and mix well.

In a clean bowl, whip the egg whites until they're stiff.

Gently fold the egg whites into the ricotta mixture.

Heat a pan or griddle and melt a few tablespoons of butter in the pan.

Drop about a quarter cup of batter into the pan for each pancake. Don't overcrowd the pan.

Cook for two to three minutes on the first side. The pancake will be golden. Flip and cook for an additional two minutes.

Serve warm with butter and syrup. Enjoy!



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[mamaleh]

Looks like that interview might be two years old: Hugh cites Oscar's age as 11.

Ellen

[jo]

LOL - someone dug up the interview and tweeted the link

But it is practical to know that you can bake pancakes instead of individually frying them - you can make more batches faster


Jo

[jo]

Hugh, finally grounded, for a long rest! After a long odyssey --

*Promotion for REAL STEEL
*BACK ON BROADWAY - from San Francisco to Toronto to Broadway itself
*LES MISERABLES - rehearsals and filming
*THE WOLVERINE - filming after a short Bali break
*Promotion for LES MISERABLES
*Awards screenings and events for Les Miserables
*PRISONERS filming
*Promotion for THE WOLVERINE
*DAYS OF FUTURE PAST
*ONE NIGHT ONLY concert on October 12


Whew! It would have not been so difficult had two of these films not included extensive vocal lessons and intense physical regimens!

[mamaleh]

He may have to get off that hammock to promote the opening of THE WOLVERINE in the Far East -- and what about PRISONERS domestically?

Don't get too comfy, Hugh.

Ellen

[jo]

Young Hugh