Hugh Jackman and Deborra Lee Furness are one of those couples who love to talk about how they met and will tell you how much they mean to each other. A lot of people throw shade at Hugh for marrying an older woman who isn’t Hollywood perfect, and he’s been the subject of gay rumors, but to me that just means that he’s dedicated to his wife and isn’t a superficial bastard. Plus he’s such a natural, accomplished entertainer and he can sing and dance with the best of them. That doesn’t make him gay, that just makes him excellent at his job.
Anyway, in a new appearance on Ellen, Hugh talked about meeting his wife, a story which he’s told many times and which you can tell he still loves telling. He was gushing about her this time because their 20th anniversary is coming up, but he usually doesn’t need an excuse.
“She and I met before [I got famous]. It was my first job and it was…obviously, she’s the greatest thing that ever happened to me, and it gets better and better,” Hugh, 47, said of Deborra, 60. “I’m kind of really grateful that I met before anything kind of happened, because everything that’s happened in my career and on-screen, off-screen, we’ve always done it together.” He then told the story of how they first got together on the set of the Australian TV series Correlli. “She was the star I had this major crush on her. Everyone did! The whole crew had a crush on her, and I was so embarrassed by that I didn’t talk to her for about a week. When I realized, I didn’t talk to her. About a week later, I go, ‘This I silly.’ I had a dinner party and I invited her over and about 20 other people, and she said, ‘What’s the matter? Have I annoyed you? You’re not talking to me anymore. What have I done wrong?’ All the sudden I was—I’d had a couple ——and I said, ‘Look, I got a crush on you. I’ll get over it.’ And she went, ‘Oh, really?’ I was like, ‘Oh, this is bad.’ She goes, ‘Yeah, I got one on you, too.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, great.’ So, that was it.”
Here they are today, “21 years and two kids later.”
I watched that episode as I’ve been taping Ellen and I have to say that Hugh adores his wife. To all you cynical bitches – I get it, most of the time I’m with you, but this is an exception. I’ve seen both Hugh and Deborra Lee interviewed many times and they’re the real deal. Yes it makes me jealous but at least the woman who bagged Hugh isn’t some Victoria’s Secret model (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but you know what I’m saying, she has other attributes).
Hugh was promoting his upcoming film, Eddie the Eagle, which tells the true story of the first British Olympic ski jumper, played by Taron Egerton (not related to Joel Edgerton, I checked). Hugh plays the coach. Taron, 26, is a Welsh actor, and he came on Ellen for his first talkshow appearance. He said that the name of his hometown is, I sh*t you not, llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. This is a REAL TOWN NAME and they showed the train station sign and everything. I thought German words were long!
Update: Here’s the video
Photo credit: WENN, FameFlynet and Instagram
I feel for them and for the scrutinity they get regarding their family and marriage. Especially because I’ve read many times from different outlets how nice and professional Hugh is. Some people will never win, and I hope that they dont pay attention to the tumors anymore.
He gives me hope after a hopeless 2015…
His talent is undeniable so I don’t think he needs to pimp a relationship that doesn’t exist. Either way waking up to that in the morning 😍
What makes you say the relationship does not exist? Unless you know them personally I’m guessing it’s because she’s older and less physically attractive than him, or you think men who do musicals must be gay. Basically ageism, sexism or homophobia. Whichever it is it’s getting old. It’s 2016, accept that not everyone’s relationship has to conform to your narrow stereotypes.
Funny, I didn’t read her comment the same way. If you read it correctly, she said he doesn’t need to fake his relationship not that he IS faking a relationship. You really should read before you speak!
OMG, @Trix- where are you coming up with all this negativity regarding anniefannie’s comment? Who said anything about age, sexual orientation, or beauty? I mean, besides you? You’re the one who threw the “she’s … less physically attractive than him” idea out there! Talk about narrow minded and quick to pass judgement!
I’m with you CB. The guy loves his wife.
My daughter and I waited stage door after Jackman’s play The River and he was so charming while signing Playbills, taking a minute to chat with each person. When a woman in line mention Deborra, the guy’s face completely lit up. It was sweet.
PS the man is a specimen in person.
I am pea green with envy.
I think it’s just considered more “normal” when it’s a younger woman and an older man, not the other way around. But I think it’s silly that people can’t just believe he could have just been into her. One of my brothers married a woman 12 years older than her and was crazy about her right up until she passed away.
My husband is 10 years younger. He loves me to death and has to convince me it’s no big deal. My two closest friends are the opposite, husbands are 10 years older and no one bats an eye, but we got a side eye at first. It’s just more socially acceptable the other way. Sometimes I feel self conscious about aging, little things like my skin is loosening around my joints. My husband is so great though, I’ve never had a guy so into me or love me so much. The longer we’re together, the better it gets. A good marriage is about mutual respect, support, and love, and if you have that, an age difference doesn’t seem so important.
I don’t think Hugh is gay just because he loves theatre and is a song and dance man. A gay in the closet would spend too much time running away from anything that is a gay stereotype. He’s supremely confident and has nothing to hide. He’s a man with many talents in the entertainment industry. I believe they are a team and he loves his family. I’m sure being abandoned by his mother when young plays into the fact that he likes the stability of his family together and her devotion and that sustains him and he adores her back. He’s a man with a big heart, who wears his emotions on his sleeve. No way it’s fake.
I feel sorry for his wife. It must suck, having people constantly say he’s gay, he can’t be with her, he’s out of her league. What a soul crusher. Life is not always about looks.
You know, I used to believe the rumors. But after all these years, your point is why I now believe it’s the real deal. She would not have dealt with the cruelty and insults she gets just for a showmance. The only reason to weather that BS is for love.
She was the one with the bigger career when she got involved with him. She wasn’t some desperate woman who would accept a fake marriage to be a beard. She didn’t have to. She was the star at the time, not him.
@Jayna
Yup! I know. I love that a young unknown guy was gutsy enough to go after a big star!
But there are many reasons to go through a showmance and even the big stars do it. Either way, after what they (and especially she) have been through, it seems like the real deal. Good for them.
I don’t understand this at all. She is a beautiful woman. You make it sound like she has to have other great qualities he must appreciate because she’s ugly. SHE’S A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN!! She’s older than him not uglier than him.
I didn’t mean it like that. I think people say he’s gay because they can’t believe he’s not with a younger woman who they think is more in his league, so that’s why they say he’s gay. Because God forbid a man be with a woman he loves and is devoted to. She’s attractive, but there is more to her than her looks and he is not so superficial that he only sees that. He wouldnt be married to her for so long if it was only about looks. So obviously he is smart enough to realize there is more to his wife than just her looks. Just like my husband is not with me for my looks, I have more to offer than that. See comment #10
I don’t get it either. I think she is beautiful, but she is looking older now but she is still beautiful. At some point Hugh will start to age too, but men get such a pass on aging that women just don’t get. Not a fan of her stylist though, as I think sometimes she could look better, but still pretty. I know he seems so in love with her and his family. Nice to see.
I never understood the horrible things people say about her, esp. her looks. I always thought she was quite lovely and the way they look at each other….swoon.
@noway Agreed re: men getting a pass…I have noticed, though, that with men, they look good, are fit, etc etc until bam! one day it just all goes south, like overnight. With women, I feel like the aging process is much slower and gradual. So men can maybe be seen as sexier as they get older but then all of a sudden, it’s gone. Women can rock the sexy much longer…just my humble opinion…
Yeah, I’m not in the Hugh Jackman is gay train. I remembered the first time I heard the story of how they met & how she was way more famous than him. He really seems devoted to her & have been together for so long. I hate how they comment on her looks & how Hugh should be with someone younger & more attractive. If he’s not then there’s something wrong with him or he’s gay because a straight guy would never marry her. They both seem so nice & humble, & they don’t deserve all those comments about them.
I adore Hugh even more because of the way he is with his wife. I think they’re the real deal and I can see how the gay rumors must be insulting to both of them (Deb talked about it many times). Like he said, she was the star in the relationship and a very beautiful woman – I’m not surprised he fell for her.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3187386/Hugh-Jackman-shares-throwback-picture-wife-19-years-Deborra-Lee-Furness-1996.html
Yeah, she was quite well known in Australia when they met. He was the unknown one!
So she’s not nipped, tucked and anorexic!!! Good for her. She’s a lucky woman and he’s lucky to have a devoted wife!
There are many rumors on Hugh and his wife because his assistant/business partner John Palermo lived with them in their home .
This situation was not different of Jeremy Renner and his best friend / room mate/ Business partner Kristoffer Winters
I don’t get that. These celebs don’t have little two bedroom split-levels. We are talking 6000sqft plus with separate wings, guest houses, pool houses, and live in staff. You could go days without seeing your kid let alone a houseguest.
It sounds like people trying to make “evidence” for a story they desperately need to believe (for some reason?).
I also love in these stories bisexuality cannot possibly exist; which seems to go back to that desperate “he would never be with HER!”. Sigh….whatever.
The part that’s weird to me isn’t the living together so much as the exchanging of rings. Gay, straight, bi, exchanging rings between you, your wife, and your business partner is weird. Aside from that, their life choices are their own, and it’s not my business to question.
If Hugh and Deborra have a bearding relationship, we should all be so lucky. It’s got to be the happiest, most affectionate, most respectful contractual agreement ever.
Yeah, I agree @Malificient. Even if he is gay and she is his beard (which, for the record, I don’t think is the case at all) it looks like they have a real friendship with real love for one another. And they look happy together. They are true life partners and that’s what matters.
if I had a huge house and millions i would move all my close friends and associates in! #teamdeborra
and ffs, people act like she’s 30 years older when it’s only 13, so the only difference is she does not keep up with Hollywood ‘lifestyle’ whereas he has to because of his career so he appears out of her league while it could easily be the other way around if you look past appearances.
Very sweet. I feel for her, it must be so hurtful to have so many people insinuate that she must be a beard because they don’t believe he could love or be attracted to her. Particularly so if she was beautiful in her youth, it’s so hard to go from people falling over you in admiration to nobody noticing you anymore.
They make a lovely couple!! Some people become more attractive to you because of their personalities while others become less attractive because they are jerks. I would much rather be with a plain, kind and humble man than an insufferable good looking d-bag.
+10000 – been with the handsome but insufferable d-bags – I chose a man who is normal-looking, not tall, but is funny, genuine, smart, respectful and not afraid to show how much he loves me. I won the love lottery for sure.
Hugh is great as always, and Taron has been my new crush ever since Kingsman! Check out some interviews with him, very charming and cute and doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously. Plus he’s a great actor (saw pre-screening of Eddie the Eagle). Anyone else on board? If so, hopefully we’ll see more of him around here 😉
Absolutely on board of the taron train. This guy is everything!
I’ve only seen previews of Edie the Eagle, and I was shocked when I found out that it was the same actor from Kingsmen
If he’d married someone his own age or younger who looked like a model, they wouldn’t get half as much crap. It’s hard to deny it too because people will say you’re being offended about being called gay, as if there’s something wrong with that. I appreciate that they don’t constantly do this even though the speculation must be quite hurtful.
p.s I knew someone who worked for them a few years ago. He always talked about how nice they both were.
I love these two and they are definitely the real deal. She is highly intelligent, charismatic and warm and draws people to her quite naturally. I hate the shit people give their relationship.
Also I like Taron a lot!! He was great in Kingmen. Loads of talent and charisma.
Obviously, Hugh and his wife are everything. BUT, am ai the only one who has a massive crush on Taron? I first saw him in Kingsman and let me tell you, that guy is HOT.
Hello fellow Lucy, and agreed! I just wrote the same above, I’m hoping we hear more about him in the future
“It’s beauty which captures your attention, personality which captures your heart.” Anon
Beauty doesn’t keep a marriage going does it? And James McAvoy is 9 years younger than his wife, does anyone make a fuss about that?
That town name is what happens when really powerful people get asked questions when they’re drunk.
He is , by all accounts, a great person. And the man works! Talented guy. It’ nice to see two people anywhere, let alone Hollywood, who are happy. My ninja Turtle shell of cynicism may have a hairline crack in it now..
The way he talks about her is so endearing and I believe he truly loves her. She’s a beautiful woman and obviously adores him as well, I hate how people rail on her looks, she’s not stick thin but why does that matter!? She’s gorgeous, even if she wasn’t pretty it shouldn’t freaking matter, people are too focused on the outside these days. Looks will always fade, always, you have to connect with someone for who they are for relationships to last, and this couple has that. Congrats to them for almost 20 years together!
She’s not stick-thin, but she sometimes looks really rough at premieres and such, like would it be so hard to hire a stylist or just try a bit harder? I know about the accident and the ankle and hence the flat shoes, but it bugs me when stars go to events that are specifically black-tie or gala and can’t be bothered to even get dressed beyond beachwear. It just feels so lackluster and not “badass” at all, just a bit rude and disappointing… Anyway, of course she can do whatever she wants….
They seem like the real deal to me. Mutual respect and admiration after 20+ years? I only know one or two couples like this in real life, let alone in Hollywood!
So many town names like that in Wales…I think the Welsh are drunk a lot, LOL.
Hugh lost his mom young, it makes sense that he’d wind up with an older woman. We try to fill the cracks in ourselves with our choice of partner.
He’s amazing! He’s on my ‘forever crushes’ list!
He is so kind. I saw him in Oklahoma in London before he got super famous. My friends and I waited backstage and he was so gracious. He introduced us to his fellow actors that weren’t receiving as much attention. Just such a classy guy. Humble and kind. I think he is just as lucky to have Deborah as she is having him. They are adorable.
Awww how sweet!
I hate the way people think he must be gay because he hasn’t traded her in fog a younger model. She is a fine looking woman.
there are so few real genuine people in Hollywood. Literally a handful and he is one of them.
I love this couple, and agree that their love is real. I think it’s wonderful that Hugh is still so in love with his wife all these later, the cynics be damned.
I believe he genuinely adores his wife. But DLF is notoriously plagued with insecurities about her looks and age in relation to her husband’s looks and fame as a sex symbol. She’s talked about it repeatedly in interviews. Angrily and bitterly and also sadly and helplessly. It’s as if she just assumes she’s being judged every time she steps into a room with him. She’s extremely defensive. She might know and believe in her husband’s deep love and devotion for her, but it doesn’t seem to be enough for her – frankly.
If I was in her position with strangers on the internet constantly criticising my appearance and speculating on the genuineness of my relationship I reckon I’d be pretty insecure, sad and angry as well.
Who makes her read it???
@ sochan
Well, hello, its mentioned in every àrticle about him. Are you saying she can’t read any articles about her hubby?
She’s married to him, so she doesn’t need to read interviews about a man she already knows. No, she doesn’t need to read articles about her hubby. And I don’t think horrible things are written about her in LITERALLY “every article about him”.
It’s rude enough that social media discusses it all the time. But I’d be pretty sad and angry and bitter if interviewers had the crass audacity to ask me about it constantly. It’s beyond inappropriate that it’s even a point of conversation with her. I think it takes a great deal of maturity to even admit to those feelings in public instead of tapping dancing around the fact that she is constantly insulted for being (gasp!) middle-aged and (double-gasp!) plump.
I agree they’re the real deal, and sorry to be an armchair psychologist and bringing up all sorts of Freudian theories, but my THEORY is that Hugh fell in love with an older woman because he’d never had a real mother figure in his childhood. Which sounds terrible but it’s not. Look up his interviews about his childhood.
I think it’s just so hard for people to believe that an A-list Hollywood actor could stay faithful to his wife for so long, especially when she doesn’t look like a supermodel. Props to Hugh for not letting fame and success go to his head.
I do think so much of the gossip around their relationship stems from very blatant sexism and ageism regarding their age difference, and no one would think twice were the genders reversed. I always think of Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith, and how insecure she seemed to be from the get go with the plastic surgery far too young. Whereas with Deborah people don’t see that Hugh looks at her and doesn’t see fading beauty or an older woman, he so obviously looks at her and sees the woman he thought was so out of his league when he met her he couldn’t speak to her. That’s real love for you.