Hugh Jackman on raising his two kids: "I didn't want to be that kind of dad"
Hugh Jackman could not be more excited to return to Australia as he is bringing his world tour to his home country.
Speaking to Sylvia Jeffreys on A Current Affair, Jackman expressed his excitement for his upcoming concert The Man. The Music. The Show., which is set for August dates in Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne.
"The idea of coming back and doing this show again is completely thrilling to me," he said. "I'm probably never happier than doing this."
The last time Jackman was on his native soil was two years ago, before his 2017 hit film The Greatest Showman came out. He said he and wife Deborra-Lee Furness miss the country “desperately”, especially since he has to travel often for his work.
“As a parent, you face this decision early on of, 'Where are we going to base ourselves?'” Jackman said.
“I didn't want to be that kind of dad who was always away, but we've been out of the country a lot, and a lot more than I would like, so it's a great excuse to get back.”
The couple currently lives between Sydney and New York with their son Oscar, 18 and daughter Ava, 13.
The 50-year-old father said, “If Deb and I have done anything right as parents, our kids are really proud Australians. They'll tell everyone they know, 'Oh, I'm Australian.' And I'm like, 'Yes!'”
For his concert, Jackman will be performing songs from The Greatest Showman and Les Miserables as well as musical numbers from The Boy from Oz and other Broadway shows. The tour, which features Jackman’s co-star The Greatest Showman co-star Keala Settle, will also run in Europe and the US.
"It feels like a privilege; I was really excited to basically give the year up for it," Jackman told the Sydney Morning Herald about the tour.
"I'm at a point in my career where I don't worry about that stuff: momentum, trajectory or what people think. I really sort of march to the beat of my own drummer now, and I don't think I've always been like that."
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