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Apr 2009

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Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor/producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.

A singer, dancer and actor in stage musicals, principally The Boy From Oz, Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, his forte being action/superhero, period and romance characters. Successes include the X-Men series, Kate & Leopold, Van Helsing, The Prestige, The Fountain and Australia.

In November 2008, People magazine named Jackman "Sexiest Man Alive." He will also be honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2009. Jackman was appointed a goodwill ambassador of Seoul, South Korea on April 10th, 2009

Early stage, film, and television work

On stage in Melbourne, Jackman played Gaston in the local Walt Disney production of Beauty and the Beast and Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard. During his stage musical career in Melbourne, he starred in the 1998 Midsumma festival cabaret production Summa Cabaret. He also hosted Melbourne's Carols by Candlelight and Sydney's Carols in the Domain.

Jackman's early film work includes Erskineville Kings and Paperback Hero (1999), while his television work includes Correlli (a 10 part drama series on the ABC and Jackman's first major professional job, devised by Australian actress Denise Roberts and where he also met his future wife, Deborra-Lee Furness), Law of the Land, Halifax f.p., Blue Heelers, and Banjo Paterson's The Man from Snowy River.

Oklahoma!

Jackman became known outside of Australia in 1998, when he played the leading role of Curly in the Royal National Theatre's acclaimed stage production of Oklahoma!, in London's West End. The performance earned him an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. He also starred in the 1999 television version of the stage classic 1999 film version of the same stage musical, which has been screened in many countries.

X-Men

In 2000, Jackman was cast as Wolverine in Bryan Singer's X-Men, replacing Dougray Scott. His co-stars include Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, James Marsden, Famke Janssen and Anna Paquin. According to a CBS interview in November 2006, Jackman's wife Deborra-Lee Furness told him not to take the role, a comment she later told him she was glad he ignored.

Jackman, at 6' 2", stands nearly a foot taller than Wolverine, who is said in the original comic book to be 5' 3". Hence, the filmmakers were frequently forced to shoot Jackman at unusual angles or only from the waist up to make him appear shorter than he actually is. Jackman was also required to add a great deal of muscle for the role, and in preparing for the fourth film in the series, he bench-pressed over 300 pounds. n instant star upon the film's release, Jackman later reprised his role in 2003's X-Men 2, 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, due to be released in 2009.

The Prestige

Jackman starred in the 2006 film The Prestige, directed by Christopher Nolan and also starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Andy Serkis and David Bowie. As Robert Angier, Jackman portrayed a magician who built up a rivalry with contemporary Alfred Borden in attempt to 'one up' each other in the art of deception. Jackman stated that his main reason for doing The Prestige was to work with the musician Bowie, who played scientist Nikola Tesla.

He also starred in Woody Allen's 2006 film Scoop, opposite Scarlett Johansson. He rounded out 2006 with two animated films: Happy Feet, directed by George Miller, in which he voiced the part of Memphis, an emperor penguin, and Flushed Away, where Jackman also supplied the voice of a rat named Roddy who ends up being flushed down his Kensington family's toilet into the London sewer system. Flushed Away also starred Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen (the fourth time Jackman has worked with him), Jean Reno, Andy Serkis (the second time Jackman has worked with him, the first being in The Prestige) and Bill Nighy.

In 2007, Jackman produced and guest-starred in the television musical-dramedy series Viva Laughlin, which was cancelled by CBS after two episodes. A decision about the remaining episodes already filmed at the time of cancellation has yet to be made.

Jackman's 2008 movies included Deception (which he starred in and produced), Uncle Jonny, and Australia.

Australia

In 2008, director Baz Luhrmann cast Jackman to replace Russell Crowe as the male lead in his much-publicized epic film, Australia, which co-stars Nicole Kidman. The movie was released in late November 2008 in Australia and the U.S., and is being released in stages worldwide.[15] Jackman plays a tough, independent cattle drover, who reluctantly helps an English noblewoman in her quest to save both her philandering husband's Australian cattle station and the half-caste Aboriginal child she finds there.