Hugh Jackman is known for his iconic movies including X-Men, The Greatest Show Man and Australia. But his more recent role in ‘The Son’ will be one of his most life changing roles after his father passed away during filming.
Talking with American publication Variety, Hugh revealed his struggle dealing with grief after losing his father, Christopher John Jackman, who lived with Alzheimer’s disease for 12 years.
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“He was nearing the end,” Hugh said.
“So he was ostensibly gone, mentally. He would still smile a bit. I didn’t know he was going to physically pass away, but I knew it was kind of a goodbye.”
The Australian actor revealed his father passed away while he was filming ‘The Son’ during September 2021 and pulled director Florian Zeller aside to tell him the news but resisted taking time off to grieve.
“My father never missed a day of work,” he told Variety.
“I could feel him. I knew if he could talk to me, he’d be like, ‘You got to go to work! What are you talking about?’ I felt his presence on the set.”
Hugh continued to discuss his character, Peter who is a workaholic father struggling to take care of his family. His character’s storyline almost reflects that of Christopher who raised Hugh after his mother abandoned their family when he was only 8 years old.
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Their bond as father and son never ceased, even as Hugh became an international superstar with Wolverine in The X-Men. Hugh revealed he would often invite his father to movie sets where he would sit behind the monitor and solve his latest crossword puzzle.
“I literally could see him in the corner of the room,” Hugh confessed regarding the scenes he would shoot for ‘The Son’ which is set to release in late November 2022.
“I had an image of him on set, standing behind the action. My father worked incredibly hard — looking after five kids, the weight of the world on his shoulders. I had the feeling of him being completely free. That really helped me.”
