Superstar Hugh Jackman talked about fatherhood and admitted he’s a “different parent now” following the death of his father Christopher John Jackman in September of 2021.
During the 54-year-old actor’s recent appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Jackman said the role for his new movie “The Son” and the death of his father changed him.
“I think I’m a different parent now because of it,” the “Logan” star explained.
Jackman has been married to Deborra-Lee Furness for 26 years and the two share kids, Oscar, 22, and Ava, 17, together.
“I think I was just confronting a lot of things as a parent.” – @realhughjackman on why he was a “hot mess” while filming ‘The Son.’ pic.twitter.com/IaOSw9shyh
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) January 17, 2023
“I think I’m more open to being vulnerable with them saying things like ‘I’m not sure,’ or realizing that sometimes I may be preoccupied by something going on with me, like I’m preoccupied about the opening of ‘The Music Man,’ for example, and then realizing that they may think they’ve done something,” Jackman explained.
“And just me not communicating because I’m thinking, ‘I don’t want to burden them with that,’ doesn’t help,'” he added. “So now I find myself saying, ‘Hey guys, sorry if I feel distant, I’m really nervous about this thing and if I’ve gone off my head, it’s nothing to do with you.'”
“Just because you’re the father — you don’t have to know, you don’t have to know what to do or what the best thing is, and it’s OK to say that and then, of course, they use that and wrap you around their little finger,” “The Greatest Showman” star continued with a chuckle.
The “Deadpool 3” star’s father died during the filming of “The Son,” something he said that changed how he approached not only his role as a dad in the movie but in real life as the parent of two older kids.
“I think I was just confronting a lot of things as a parent, fears that you have, and I just wasn’t sleeping very well,” Jackman said. “I found myself thinking a lot and in a lot (of) emotional turmoil. And I think it was just part of giving over … giving over to the story, and I just sort of went with it.”
“The Son” centers on Jackman’s character, Peter, who “has his busy life with new partner Beth and their baby thrown into disarray when his ex-wife Kate turns up with their teenage son, Nicholas,” who’s dealing with a mental health crisis, a description on IMDb read. It hits theaters January 20, 2023.
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