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As An Actor, You Have Many Tools - Your Body, Your Voice, Your Emotions, Mentally. In Film, You Have Your Eyes Because They Communicate Your Thought Process. In Fact, Generally In Film, What You Don't Say Is More Important Than What You Say. That's Not So Much The Case For Stage.

-Hugh Jackman

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As An Actor, You

Hugh Jackman

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As An Actor, You Have Many Tools - Your Body, Your Voice, Your Emotions, Mentally. In Film, You Have Your Eyes Because They Communicate Your Thought Process. In Fact, Generally In Film, What You Don't Say Is More Important Than What You Say. That's Not So Much The Case For Stage.

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You Can't Tackle Climate Change Until You Tackle Poverty.

Because I Believe Actually The More You Do Something, The Less Frightening It Becomes Because You Start To Realize The Outcome Is Not As Important As You Think.

Both My Parents Are English And Came Out To Australia In 1967. I Was Born The Following Year. My Parents, And Immigrants Like Them, Were Known As '£10 Poms.' Back Then, The Australian Government Was Trying To Get Educated British People And Canadians - To Be Honest, Educated White People - To Come And Live In Australia.

The Last 10 Years I Have Had To Bulk Up For Roles And I'm Naturally Skinny, So I Have Eaten And Killed So Many Chickens! I Wouldn't Even Want To Count. I Need To Balance That Out.

My Father Was An Army Champion Boxer... In The British Army. And So He Loved Boxing And Talked It Up As A Sport. But Then When My Brother And I Were Beating The Crap Out Of Each Other, He Was Always Trying To Tone It Down. But I Am A Fan Of Boxing.

I Truly Believe That The Job Of An Actor And The Drive Of An Actor Is Simulating The Internal Journey In Life Which Is To Get Deeper And Deeper Into Our Understanding Of Who We Are.

The Optimization Of Cosmic Darkness And Of Earth's Location Within The Dark Universe That Sacrifices Neither The Material Needs Of Human Beings Nor Their Capacity To Gain Knowledge About The Universe Reflects Masterful Engineering At A Level Far Beyond Human Capability- And Even Imagination. It Testifies Of A Supernatural, Superintelligent, Superpowerful, Fully Deliberate Creator.

I Always Felt Love From Both My Parents.

I Treat Auditions Like I Treated My First Dates. It's An Opportunity To Get To Know A Stranger And To Learn From Each Other.

I've Always Felt That If You Back Down From A Fear, The Ghost Of That Fear Never Goes Away. It Diminishes People.

My Friends Say, 'man You're Going To Have Kids Sleeping On Pillowcases With Your Face On It! You're Going To Be On Toothbrushes And Magnets And Stuff.' I Guess Now That I'm A Dad, I'm Thrilled About That.

I Would Love To Have A Robot At Home.

As A Boy, I'd Always Had An Interest In Theater. But The Idea At My School Was That Drama And Music Were To Round Out The Man. It Wasn't What One Did For A Living. I Got Over That.

When You Dance, Your Body Just Wants To Find Its Natural Weight. I'm Naturally A Lot More Tommy Tune Than I Am Wolverine.

If I Go To A Party I Don't Feel Like I Have To Be In The Centre. But I Do Find Myself Quite Often Being Placed In That Position. Even When I Was Younger At School, I Would Be Asked To Make A Speech. I Don't Remember Putting Up My Hand And All That Often But I'd Just Find Myself There.

You Have To Find Your Own Shtick. A Picasso Always Looks Like Picasso Painted It. Hemingway Always Sounds Like Hemingway. A Beethoven Symphony Always Sounds Like A Beethoven Symphony. Part Of Being A Master Is Learning How To Sing In Nobody Else's Voice But Your Own.

That's All About The Natural Order Of Things, The Idea Of Nature Protecting Children But Also Children Protecting Nature.

I'm Always Very Nervous About The Word 'dancer' Next To My Name Because Anyone Who's Really Trained In Dance Will Go, 'this Guy's Fudging So Badly.'

I Have A Wife And A Son, But The Gay Rumors Have Started. I Guess It's A Sign That I'm Moving Up The Ladder.

The Most Scared I'd Ever Been Was The First Time I Sang At A Rugby Match, Australia Versus New Zealand, In Front Of One Hundred Thousand People. I Had A Panic Attack The Night Before Because People Have Been Booed Off And Never Worked Again... Just Singing One Song, The National Anthem.

My Parents Were Drawn To The Idea That There Was Space And Opportunity In Australia. For The Meagre Sum Of £10, You Could Sail Your Entire Family Out To Australia, So That's What My Father Chose To Do.

The First Show I Ever Did, Singing And Dancing, Was Beauty And The Beast. I Was Playing Gaston. Gaston Has Red Tights, Knee High Boots, And It’s Very Physical. I Had Headaches Everyday For Two Months.

Doing Anything Worthwhile Takes Forever.

Writer's Block Is Just A Symptom Of Feeling Like You Have Nothing To Say, Combined With The Rather Weird Idea That You Should Feel The Need To Say Something. Why? If You Have Something To Say, Then Say It. If Not, Enjoy The Silence While It Lasts. The Noise Will Return Soon Enough.

I Love Food, All Types Of Food. I Love Korean Food, Japanese, Italian, French. In Australia, We Don't Have A Distinctive Australian Food, So We Have Food From Everywhere All Around The World. We're Very Multicultural, So We Grew Up With Lots Of Different Types Of Food.

Luckily, I'm Not Afraid To Make A Fool Of Myself.

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.

I Never Wanted To Go Longer Than Five Years Off The Stage. Not Necessarily Musicals, But Just Doing A Play Or Something.

Singing Is Incredibly Physical.

I Think One Of The Things I Always Loved About The Comics Was This Idea That This Character, When He Goes Berserk, That White, Blind Rage Makes Him Incredibly Powerful, But It's Also A Great Flaw. It's Almost Like He Loses Consciousness Of What He's Doing. During That He Can Do Great Damage.

It Dawned On Me That Acting Was What I Wanted To Do With My Life. Nothing Had Ever Touched My Heart Like Acting Did.

I'm Lucky To Have Worked In Theater All Over The World, But There's Something Magical About Broadway. The Audiences Are Smart, They're Educated. They Go In Ready And They're Up For It, They're Up For The Party. It's A Whole Different Atmosphere.

And I Think That, Of Course, There Is Some Dysfunction Of Needing To Be Liked Or Noticed Or To Feel Part Of Things, Something Going On There For Most Actors. For Some There's Not And I Think They Really Struggle With It.

There Was A Whole Display Set Up Of All The X-men Paraphernalia. My Wife Couldn't Resist Telling This 5-year-old Boy That I Was Wolverine. The Little Kid Looked Up At Me And He Was Staring At Me.

There Is Still Boxing, But There's Just No Money In It Anymore. If You Went Around The World And Asked A Bunch Of People Under 20 Years Old, To Name A Boxer, I Bet They Couldn't Name One. They'd Be Able To Name A Ufc Fighter Though. When I Was Younger There Was Mike Tyson And We Watched Everything. I'm Not Saying Its Gone, Or Its Going To Go, And It Could Easily Be Ignited By Another Fighter, But It's Just That Idea That Ufc Is More Violent, That Desire For More Spectacle, Has Captured People's Attention.

I Remember At One Point Being In Fellowship, 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.

When I Made 'real Steel,' The Director Actually Had The Robots In The Monitor, So He Knew Where Everything Was. So Technically, There's Been Advancements. But At The End Of The Day, Movies Are About Story And Characters, So All The Other Stuff Is Great, But Unless You Have Those Two Elements, Then You've Got Nothing.

I'm Not A Loner At All.

There Is Anxiety, But It Comes After You've Finished Filming Because It's Out Of Your Hands; People Are Editing It, They're Cutting It, Marketing It. And It's... Part Your Career Sort Of Rides On That. But When You're Actually Filming It's A Team Thing And It Really Feels Good There For Me.

My Gosh, I Love Food. If I Wasn't An Actor, I Could Be A Completely Different Body Shape Right Now.

One Of The Canadian Customs Guards Got Suspicious And Said 'haven't You Been Coming And Going Across The Border A Lot Lately?' I Finally Told Him I Was Auditioning For Wolverine And Everything Changed. One Minute It Was Get Ready For The Strip Search, The Next It Was Come On And Sign Six Hundred Autographs.

I Had Spent Some Time In The Outback, But To Meet Aboriginals And Work With Them Was Wonderful. It Gave Me A Great Appreciation Of How Tough Life Is And About The Indomitable Spirit That The Aboriginal People Have Always Possessed.

Americans Are The Most Generous Country On The Planet. I've Worked In Europe, I've Worked In Australia. There Is No Where Else Where You Get Absolutely No Attitude For Being A Foreigner. If You Do Your Job Well, They Embrace You.

I Hate Being Frightened Of Things. I'm Not Someone Who Can Say: "oh, I'm Scared Of Flying, I Won't Fly." Fear Seems To Creep Over Every Part Of Your Life So If There's Something I Identify As Frightening To Me I Want To Tackle It.

I Just Love Making A Fool Out Of Myself. I Made My Living As A Clown At Kids' Parties For About Three Years.

I've Dreamt Of Being In A Movie Musical For A Long Time. For Some Reason I Never Even Thought 'les Mis' Would Be Possible.

If You Never Fall In Love With Your Character, You'll Never Be Able To Do That Character Justice. No Matter Who It Is, No Matter What The Character Does, You Have To Find The Reason For It. Everyone's Got A Reason For What They Do, Even If It's A Reason That They're Not Proud Of.

Falling In Love

The Wolverine Was Fired From His Job As A Cashier In A Newsagents After Just Six Weeks Because His Boss Said, "he Talks Too Much To Customers". He Can Talk To Me All Day.

I Have Two Kids, Career And I Travel, And I Don't Think My Life Is Any Different Than Most Couples. The Most Valuable Commodity Now For Many People Is Time And How To Parcel That Out.

When You Fall In Love And You Get Married, It’s Such A Relief. You’re Like, ‘oh, This Feels So Right And This Woman Is Just So Great And I Love Her.’ And Then You Have A Kid — It Kind Of Just Gets Even Bigger. And It’s Frustrating And It’s Tiring And All Those Things But Your Sense Of, Like, Living Life Becomes So Much Bigger.

Falling In Love

I Know I'm Not Known As Method. By Nature I'm Not A Brooder. What I Continue To Use Is A Mixture Of The English School, Which Is Traditionally Outside-in, And The More American Way Of Working From The Inside Out.

It's Always Interesting - How Do You Actually Convey Thought Through Song? We're Used To The Convention On Stage. In Film, We Used To Be Used To It, And Now Sometimes It Works And Sometimes It Doesn't. You Need To Be Fresh And Really Look At The Material.

I Have A Terrific Marriage, But Unlike A Lot Of Relationships Where They Ebb And Flow, No Matter What Happens You Fall Deeper And Deeper In Love Every Day. It's Kind Of The Best Thing That Can Happen To You. It's Thrilling.

To Make Films Like 'x-men' Work Commercially - And Also Have Some Class - Is One Of The Hardest Things There Is To Do. I Want To Be Seen To Be Able To Cross Lots Of Genres And Still Be 'fair Dinkum,' As We Say In Australia, Which Means Genuine And True And, Well, Unique.

The Best Part About Being Married Is That Feeling Of Being A Team. All Couples Have Ups And Downs, So Having Someone You Trust Is Priceless

I'm An Actor Who Believes We All Have Triggers To Any Stage Of Emotion. It's Not Always Easy To Find But It's Still There.

I Just Find The Evangelical Church Too, Well, Restrictive. But The School Of Practical Philosophy Is Non-confrontational. We Believe There Are Many Forms Of Scripture. What Is True Is True And Will Never Change, Whether It's In The Bible Or In Shakespeare. It's About Oneness.

If You Ask My Wife, The Biggest Fault Is My Inability Around The House. She Says The Only Thing Handy About Me Is That I'm Close By. And, I Have A Terrible Memory. I'm Bad At Saying No. I Often Double-book. There Are A Lot Of Things.

Wolverine Was Created In The '60s, But He Feels Like A '70s Character In Every Way. More Dirty Harry, More Politically Incorrect, The Hair, The Mutton Chops.

I'm Not A Kid. You Don't Get In This Business For Anonymity. It's Not Like I Have Posters Of Myself On The Wall, But At The Same Time, I'm Kind Of Ready For A Little Bit Of It, But I Worry For My Little One, And My Family - Their Privacy. That's What I'm More Protective Of.

I'm Doing 'les Miserables,' The Movie. I've Done A Lot Of Musicals And A Lot Of Movies, And I Know There Are Not A Lot Of People In Hollywood Who Have Been Down Those Two Paths So I've Been Like, 'come On, Let's Do A Movie/musical.'

It's Tough To Watch A Movie You're In - You Put Everything Into It, You Want Everything To Work, And You Never Know Until You See It All Together.

Historically, Much Of The Motivation For Public Schooling Has Been To Stifle Variety And Institute Social Control.

The Physical Reality Is Assumed To Be The Wave Function Of The Whole Universe Itself.

Transcendental Meditation Gives You What You Need, When You Need It. It's Literally Changed My Life. Some Of The Clearest Ideas Or Epiphanies I've Had In Life Happened During Or After Meditating. Everything Becomes Clear And The Truth Starts Coming Out.

I Do Heavy Weights In The Morning For About An Hour, And Then I Do 45 Minutes Of Higher-volume Lifting In The Afternoon. My Least Favorite Is The Legs... I Do Quite A Few Chin-ups And Rows. I Do Mostly Old-school Lifting With A Lot Of Squats.

Comic Book Fans Have Loved Wolverine, And All The 'x-men' Characters, For More Than The Action. I Think That's What Set It Apart From Many Of The Other Comic Books. In The Case Of Wolverine, When He Appeared, He Was A Revolution Really. He Was The First Anti-hero.

I Have Done Many Movies That People Hadn't Seen. 'the Fountain,' I Spent A Year On That. 'the Prestige' With Chris Nolan, And 'australia.' From My Perspective It's Very Satisfying. Some Movies People See And Other Movies They Don't. 'wolverine,' 'x Men,' I Know That In Some Level People Know Me Just For That And It's Fine For Me.

I Think The Most Interesting Question Is, Why Do You Act? I Act Because I Have Felt In Acting Some Of The Most Free Moments Of My Life...i Think It's Also One Thing That Scares Me The Most.

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.

I Like To Dress Up In A Tailored Suit From Time To Time, And There's A Tailor I Go To In Naples Who's Fantastic. But If I Told Anyone His Name, I'd Have To Kill Them.

I'm A Mad Lover Of Sport. You Cannot Say A Bad Word To Me About Sports. So I Know Business Is Involved And I Know It Can Be Cynical, And, Of Course, I Watch It, But For Me It's Pure.

Actually, I Graduated From University As A Journalist.

It's Absolutely Physically Demanding To Play The Role Of Wolverine. There's A Lot Of Action, And I Try To Do As Much Of It As I Can Because It's Better For The Audience.

One Of Things I'd Love To Do One Day Is A Shakespeare With Trevor Nunn. I've Done Musicals With Him, But Never Shakespeare. There's No One Better.

For Me That's One Of The Great Indulgences In Life - A Hand-tailored Suit, And A Great Pair Of Handmade Shoes.

In Terms Of Theater, There's Not A More Supportive Theater Community Than In New York. It's Really Kind Of A Real Thrill To Go There. I Mean, Don't Forget, I'm A Boy From The Suburbs Of Sydney, So Getting To New York Is A Huge, Huge Thrill.

At The End Of Drama School, I Made A Contract With Myself: I'd Try Acting For Five Years. I Was 26. I Had Already Spent Eight Years Working In Restaurants And Gas Stations. So I Had Seen Enough Small Businesses To Understand That That's What Acting Is: A Small Business.

I Have Lots Of Older Siblings, And As They Started To Leave The House, I Went From Cooking Once A Week To Twice, Three Times, And So On. After A While, It Was Just Like Making The Bed.

Boring' Can Be A Lot Of Fun. Especially If It's On Your Own Terms.

My Father Taught Me That Losing Your Temper Is A Self-indulgent Act.

I Can Live With Failure If It Is Born Of Conviction.

Being On Broadway Is The Modern Equivalent Of Being A Monk. I Sleep A Lot, Eat A Lot, And Rest A Lot.

But In Another World, Another Life, Probably Growing Up In Another Country, I Might Have Been More Of A Dancer.

Talking About An X-men Kissing Scene I Had To Lay Down There And Think Of England As One By One They Bring Out The Girls. It Was A Very Tough Morning... After Each Girl Had Finished, The Crew Would Hold Up Scorecards.

I've Always Felt Embraced By The Broadway Community Even Before I Felt Like I Earned It.

My Kids Are Not That Interested In My Movie Career, By The Way. My Son, In Particular, Never Talks About It. He Just Wants Me As His Dad.

Your Marriage Goes To A Whole New Level. You Not Only Fall In Love With Your Wife In A New Way, But You're Forced To Pull Together. You Have To Become A United Front.

Falling In Love

I Work Extremely Hard Doing What I Love, Mainly To Ensure That I Don't Have To Work Extremely Hard Doing What I Hate.

The Hunger Will Give You Everything And It Will Take From You, Everything. It Will Cost You Your Life, And There Isn't A Damn Thing You Can Do About It. But Knowing This, Of Course, Is What Ultimately Sets You Free.

I'm An Actor. Never Trust An Actor, Whatever Their Energy Is. I Suppose You Guys See That Side Of Me, But I'm Sure There's Plenty Of People Close To Me Who've Seen The Other One. I Think If We're All Honest With Ourselves, We All Know That Internal Rage.

I Find That Kid Actors Are Great Reminders Of The Simplicity Of Acting. As You Get Older, You Can Sometimes Complicate Things A Little More. You Can Become Too Aware Of, 'okay, This Is The Scene Emotionally. This Is Where We Need To Be. We've Got The Climax Coming Up.' You Can Start To Analyze It Too Much.

I’ve Broken A Cardinal Rule Of Art, Music, And Career Paths: Actors Are Supposed To Act, And Musicians Are Supposed To Music. That’s How It Works. You Don’t Buy Fish From A Dentist, Or Ask A Plumber For Financial Advice, So Why Listen To An Actor’s Music?

I Didn't Really Know X-men At All Before I Started. So I'd Heard Of This Comic But I Didn't Know It Was As Beloved Or As Iconic As I Have Now Found Out, But I Just Know Fans Are Going To Flip Out At This.

My Mum And I Are, In Many Ways, Quite Similar. We're Both Creative, Gregarious, And Energetic.

Meditation Is All About The Pursuit Of Nothingness.

I Can't Stand The Sound Of Fingernails On A Chalkboard!

The Activity Of Being A Husband, A Father - Those Are Roles, Too, But Underneath Them Is The Spiritual Center That Connects Us All, And That's What's Most Important.

If I Meet Someone At A Bus Stop, I Want To Really Meet That Person. I Don't Want To Be 'hugh Jackman, The Famous Actor.'

My Father Is Very Jean Valjean. 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.

'one Night Only,' The Words I'll Be Hearing From My Agents When I Tell Them I'm Coming Back To Broadway.

I Come From The Theater, So For Me Rehearsal Is Vital And A Way Of Life. There Are Many Film Directors Who Don't Believe In It And Some Actors Who Prefer Not To Rehearse.

I've Never Been On A Film When An Entire Cast Signs Up For The Entire Time.

I Have Two Children And It's Amazing How In Tune They Are With Nature, With Light, With Smells, With Time.

The Moment Your Kid's Born You Realize No One Knows Anything. No One Goes To Classes. You Just Have A Kid. You Can Read All The Books You Like, But Unfortunately None Of Our Kids Have Read The Books So They Don't Care. You're Basically Making It Up As You Go Along.

I Meditated Before I Hosted The Oscars, I Meditate Before I Go On Stage, I Meditate In The Morning And Lunchtime When I'm On A Film Set.

Acting Is Something I Love. It's A Great Craft That I Have A Lot Of Respect For. But I Don't Think It's Any Greater Challenge Than Teaching 8-year-olds Or Any Other Career. In My Life, I Try Not To Make It More Important Than It Is And I Just Hope That Rubs Off On The People Around Me.

Nothing Has Ever Opened My Eyes Like Transcendental Meditation Has. It Makes Me Calm And Happy, And, Well, It Gives Me Some Peace And Quiet In What’s A Pretty Chaotic Life!

To Get Down To The Quick Of It, Respect Motivates Me - Not Success.

I Was Probably More Scared Of My High School Exams Than I Was Of The Oscars. At The Time You Think It's Everything And If You Don't Do Well, Your Life's Over. Opportunities Are Gone. So The More You Do It, The Less The Fear Is Present.

It's Fair To Say That, By 'x-men 3,' Wolverine Had Gone A Little Soft, And I Agree With Them There. What Fans Love About Wolverine Is His More Uncompromising Approach To Life. He Is Who He Is. He's Not Always A Nice Guy. He Has Got Edge. He's An Anti-hero. And, There's Also A Vulnerability In There. There Is Conflict And Battles Going On In There.

I Can Look Back On My Life, Where There Have Been Moments Where Things Might Have Gone The Other Way. Everything Is Like Stepping Stones, And I've Seen People I Admire Falter. We're All Vulnerable.

When You're Nat On The Net, You're Not On The Net

If I Weren’t Getting Paid Or Didn’t Have A Character Like Wolverine To Maintain, I Would Just Be A Tall, Lean, Fit Guy.

Innumerable Conditions Must Be Exquisitely Optimized For The Support Of Humanity And Of Civilization. Many Of Them Are Highly Time Variable. Evidence Showing That A Wide Variety Of Independent Conditions All Reached Optimality During The Identical Narrow Epoch When Human Beings Appeared On The Cosmic And Terrestrial Scene Testifies Of Supernatural Design And Purpose Rather Than Mere Coincidence.

Tiramisu Is My Favourite.

The Longer It Takes You To Become Successful, The Harder It Will Be For Somebody Else To Take It Away From You.

I Feel So Lucky To Have Both A Son And A Daughter, Because There's A Different Relationship With Each Of Them.

I Love New York ... I Think It's The Best City In The World. As Far As Cities Go, Everything's There. I Think It's So Vibrant. I Love The People, I Think They're Honest, In Your Face. If They Don't Like You, They'll Say, 'get Out Of My Way,' If They Like You They'll Slap You On The Back And Support You. It's A Very Intoxicating Environment To Be In.

I Had A Bad Back For A Couple Of Years. I Had To Do A Lot Of Physiotherapy For It. What I Couldn't Understand At The Time Was Why The Therapists Had Me Doing A Lot Of Stomach Work.

If I Could Only Do One Exercise, It Would Be Dead Lifting. For Cardio, I Dance, I Ride My Bike, I Run And I Have Kids. There Is A... Lot Of Cardio Just From Being A Parent.

Now I Meet People With Full-color Wolverine Tattoos On Their Backs. Thank God I Did Okay, Because I Think If I Hadn't, They'd Spit On Me In The Street.

I Once Sang 'summer Nights,' From 'grease,' At A Bar In Melbourne With John Travolta, Who's A Good Friend Of Mine. He Looked Cool Singing The Part Of Danny - Sitting In An Armchair, Smoking A Cigar - While I Got Stuck Playing Sandy.

I've Never Heard My Dad Say A Bad Word About Anybody. He Always Keeps His Emotions In Check And Is A True Gentleman. I Was Taught That Losing It Was Indulgent, A Selfish Act.

Becoming A Father, I Think It Inevitably Changes Your Perspective Of Life. I Don't Get Nearly Enough Sleep. And The Simplest Things In Life Are Completely Satisfying. I Find You Don't Have To Do As Much, Like You Don't Go On As Many Outings.

When You're Playing An Icon Like Wolverine, It's Sometimes Better To Be Someone That Nobody Knows Because They Don't Know What To Expect. I Don't Mind A Little Bit Of Anonymity; It Helps On The Subway.

My Dad's Main Client Was The World Bank, And He Spent Most Of His Time Traveling To Third World Countries. His Particular Interest Lay In The Eradication Of Poverty Through Development And Business.

Good Ideas Alter The Balance In Relationships. That Is Why Good Ideas Are Always Initially Resisted.

The Audience Knows The Truth, The World Is Simple. It's Miserable, Solid All The Way Through. But If You Could Fool Them, Even For A Second, Then You Can Make Them Wonder, And Then You Got To See Something Really Special.

I'd Sell My Soul For A Good Cause.

I Had A Fairly Enlightened Dad, Though If You Looked At His Resume, It Might Not Seem That Way. He Was A Chartered Accountant For Price Waterhouse. He Was Strict, And We Had A Very Ordered Life. To This Day, I Am The Least Materialistic Person I Know, Because My Father Didn't Raise Me To Just Go Out And Buy This Or That Car.

My Favorite Play In Drama School Was 'the Bacchae.' It's About A King Who Literally Gets Eaten Alive By All The Women In The Play In A Kind Of Orgy - It's Related To The Word 'bacchanal' - And I Loved That Idea Of Animalistic Chaos And Following Our Own Desires.

To This Day, I Am The Least Materialistic Person I Know, Because My Father Didn't Raise Me To Just Go Out And Buy This Or That Car. The Only Reason I Wanted To Make Money As An Actor Was Because I'm Passionate About Food!

I Think I May Have Been The Only Person To Be Rewarded Charitably And Get A Tax Deduction For Swearing On Film!

But Anyone Who's Done A Musical Knows; Whether You're Dancing Or Not, Physically It's The Most Difficult Thing You Can Do.

The Old Ways Are Dead. And You Need People Around You Who Concur. That Means Hanging Out More With The Creative People, The Freaks, The Real Visionaries, Than You're Already Doing. Thinking More About What Their Needs Are, And Responding Accordingly. Avoid The Dullards; Avoid The Folk Who Play It Safe. They Can't Help You Anymore. Their Stability Model No Longer Offers That Much Stability. They Are Extinct, They Are Extinction.

It's Good To Be Young And Full Of Dreams. Dreams Of One Day Doing Something 'insanely Great.' Dreams Of Love, Beauty, Achievement, And Contribution. But Understand They Have A Life Of Their Own, And They're Not Very Good At Following Instructions. Love Them, Revere Them, Nurture Them, Respect Them, But Don't Ever Become A Slave To Them. Otherwise You'll Kill Them Off Prematurely, Before They Get The Chance To Come True.

Following Instructions

I Lived With A Coffee Farmer Called Dukale On A Trip I Made With World Vision To Ethiopia, And Realised There's No Good Reason For The Disparity In Opportunity Around The World.

As An Actor, You Have Many Tools - Your Body, Your Voice, Your Emotions, Mentally. In Film, You Have Your Eyes Because They Communicate Your Thought Process. In Fact, Generally In Film, What You Don't Say Is More Important Than What You Say. That's Not So Much The Case For Stage.

A Film Is The Director's Medium. The Theater Is An Actor's.

My Agent Said To Me Five Years Ago, 'hugh, I Can See One Day You... If I Had To Plan A Goal For You, It's For You To Have The Kind Of Career That Sinatra Had.'

For Sunday Breakfast, I Make Orange And Ricotta Pancakes, Crepes And Eggs. You Know Men, We Usually Go For Breakfast Because It's The Easiest Thing To Cook And Then We Try To Make It Seem Fancy.

I'm Doing A New Musical On Broadway, Which Opens In October Called The Boy From Oz, Where I Play Peter Allen. For Those Of You Who Don't Know, He Became First Famous In America For Marrying Liza Minelli.

Now I Meditate Twice A Day For Half An Hour. In Meditation, I Can Let Go Of Everything. I'm Not Hugh Jackman. I'm Not A Dad. I'm Not A Husband. I'm Just Dipping Into That Powerful Source That Creates Everything. I Take A Little Bath In It.

I Think Adoption Is A Blessing All Around When It's Done Right.

If I'm A Lush At Anything, It's Food And Drink. I'm Not Materialistic In Any Way, But I Value Food.

I Like The Rolling Stones For Karaoke. 'sympathy For The Devil' Is A Great One.

When I Come Home, My Daughter Will Run To The Door And Give Me A Big Hug, And Everything That's Happened That Day Just Melts Away.

I'm Quite An Independent Person, And I Had To Be. As A Boy And Growing Into A Young Man I Had To Look Out For Myself. And Now I'm Very Family-oriented. It's A Big Priority In My Life.

Write Down Five Things You Love To Do. Next, Write Down Five Things That You're Really Good At. Then Just Try To Match Them Up! Revisit Your List Once A Year To Make Sure You're On The Right Track.

Salvatore Ferragamo Have Done Some Nice Handmade Suits For Me.

You Have To Eat Before You Train. Otherwise, That Really Intense Training, After About 40 Minutes You Start To Flag.

Intense Training

When People Stop Me In The Street, And I Can See They Want To Tell Me More Than They Want The Selfie, They Want To Tell Me What It Means To Them, And That Means A Lot To Me.

I Tended To Favour The Piano Over The Guitar Because It Stays In One Place, Which Is What I Like To Do.

My Father Is A Real Idealist, And He's All About Learning. If I Asked For A Pair Of Nikes Growing Up, It Was Just A Resounding 'no.' But If I Asked For A Saxophone, One Would Appear And Next Day And I'd Be Signed Up For Lessons. So Anything To Do With Education Or Learning, My Father Would Spare No Expense.

The Word Philosophy Sounds High-minded, But It Simply Means The Love Of Wisdom. If You Love Something, You Don't Just Read About It; You Hug It, You Mess With It, You Play With It, You Argue With It.

I Do Not Think It Is Logical To Try And Outsmart The Smartest People. Instead, My Weapons Are Irony And Paradox. The Joy Of Life Is Partly In The Strange And Unexpected. It Is In The Constant Exclamation 'who Would Have Thought It?'

Sometimes You Have To Go Places With Characters And Emotions Within Yourself You Don't Want To Do, But You Have A Duty To The Story And As A Storyteller To Do It.

One Afternoon When I Was 9, My Dad Told Me I'd Be Skipping School The Next Day. Then We Drove 12 Hours From Melbourne To Sydney For The Centenary Test, A Once-in-a-lifetime Commemorative Cricket Match. It Was Great Fun - Especially For A Kid Who Was A Massive Sports Fan.

I'm A Big Goofball, You Know. Don't Tell Anyone That, But I'm A Big Goofball. In Australia We Call It A Dag.

Anyone Can Be An Idealist. Anyone Can Be A Cynic. The Hard Part Lies Somewhere In The Middle.

I Don't Think I Knew How Going To Ethiopia Would Affect My Life, Through A Very Simple Choice Of Buying Fair-trade Coffee, We Can Take Part In Change.

By Nature I'm Not A Brooder.

I Tried Making An Album Six Years Ago. It Was Just Horrific. Trust Me, It's Smashed Into Smithereens. I Paid Big Money To Silence That One.

I Was Brought Up In A Way That When You're At A Dinner Party, You Don't Grab A Chip Unless It's Been Offered To Everyone Else. It's The Manners Of Being Brought Up By English Parents.

When Lifting, I'm Always With A Trainer Because The Thing That Makes A Difference Is That Last 20% In Your Training, And He Very Scientifically Looks After My Food As Well, Because When I'm Going For A 'shirt Off' Shot, Everything Changes The Month Before, And I'm Timed Down To The Day.

Making A Difference

I Got Hooked On Espresso When I Visited Italy At 18, But These Days I Prefer A 'flat White.' It's Like A Small Latte With Less Milk - They're Popular In Australia.

One Thing I Do Personally Started 20 Years Ago. I Started Meditating, And I Know Twice A Day I Can Kind Of Let Everything Drop. It's Just About Being Quiet, Like Drawing Back The Day, And It Allows Me To Have Energy.

Meditation Has Changed My Life

Changed My Life

At Which Point Should We Let Go And Do What We Want To Do, And When Should We Submit To Rules? Coming To Terms With Our True Natures And Who We Really Are Has Always Been A Fascination To Humans. I Know It Fascinates Me.

I Always Think The Great Parts Outlive The Actors That Play Them And That's A Stage Tradition, That Goes Back Hundreds Of Years And It Should Be That Way.

As You Get Older You Have More Respect And Empathy For Your Parents. Now I Have A Great Relationship With Both Of Them.

Great Relationship

One Thing That I Love About World Vision Is Every Place They Go, They Go In With An Exit Plan, They Don't Want People Dependent On Them.

People Photograph Everything And Nothing - No Interaction Is Deemed To Have Actually Happened Unless Somebody Has A Picture Of It.

Your Idea Doesn't Have To Be Big. It Just Has To Be Yours Alone. The More The Idea Is Yours Alone, The More Freedom You Have To Do Something Really Amazing. The More Amazing, The More People Will Click With Your Idea. The More People Click With Your Idea, The More It Will Change The World.

If You Get Too Heavy With The Nods And Winks, People Get A Sense That They're Excluded From Something. If They're In Screenings And Everyone's Laughing, And They Don't Know What The Hell It's About, Somehow You Feel Excluded From The Party, Or Like You're Not In The Inner Circle. As A Performer, That's The Worst Thing You Can Do To An Audience. It's Fun, But You Have To Be Very Careful With It.

I Don't Think Many Actors Are The Best Judge Of Careers. I Think Generally We Have Good Instincts About What We Can Do In Terms Of Acting. And Often They Become Directors, Which I Don't Want To Be.

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