Arts Global

Hugh Jackman is an Academy Award® nominated, Golden Globe and Tony Award winning actor, who has made an impression on audiences of all ages with his multi-hyphenate career persona, proving that he is as successful on stage in front of live crowds as he is on a film set. From his award-winning turn on Broadway as the 1970’s singer/songwriter Peter Allen, to his metal claw-wielding Wolverine in the lucrative X-Men franchise, Jackman has proven to be one of the most versatile actors of our time.

The Australian native made his first major U.S. film appearance as Wolverine in the first installment of the X-Men series, a role he reprised in the enormously successful X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006. In May of 2009, Jackman played Wolverine in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which serves as a prequel to the popular series and grossed an outstanding $85 million domestically in its first weekend of release. This last July, 2013, audiences saw Jackman in the popular role once more in the next X-Men chapter, The Wolverine. Jackman is currently filming X-Men: Days of Future Past, in which the X-Men team will reunite once more and is set for release in May of 2014.

Late in 2012, Jackman starred in the much-anticipated film adaptation of Les Misérables, directed by Tom Hooper (of The King’s Speech), co-starring Anne Hathaway and Russell Crowe, based on the popular stage show originally created from Victor’s Hugo famous novel of the same name. The ambitious musical featured singing captured live on set (as opposed to pre-recorded in a studio), making it one of the first films ever to successfully attempt this method. Jackman’s standout performance as protagonist Jean Valjean earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical as well as Screen Actors Guild nominations for both Best Ensemble and Best Male Actor in a Leading Role. The film also garnered him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

In Sept. of 2013, he will star in Warner Bros’ Prisoners, where he plays a man who takes matters into his own hands following the disappearance of his young daughter and her best friend. The film co-stars Viola Davis, Melissa Leo, and Jake Gyllenhaal. Recently, Jackman completed production on X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Earlier in 2012, Jackman lent his vocal talents to the DreamWorks family holiday adventure, Rise of the Guardians.

Jackman made his return to the Big Way in his one-man show “Hugh Jackman – Back on Broadway” in the fall of 2011. Backed by an eighteen-piece orchestra, the revue, which previously opened to rave reviews during its limited engagements in San Francisco and Toronto earlier that year, was comprised of both Broadway hits and a selection of some of his personal favorite standards. Although the show ran only until the end of the year, Jackman’s continued dedication to the Broadway community was feted at the 2012 Tony Awards, where he received a Special Award from the Tony Awards Administration Committee, recognizing his accomplishments both as a performer as well as a humanitarian.

In the fall of 2009, Broadway-goers could see Jackman in the Keith Huff penned “A Steady Rain.” Co-starring Daniel Craig, the play tells the story of two Chicago cops who are lifelong friends and whose differing accounts of a few traumatic days change their lives forever.

On February 22, 2009, Jackman took on the prestigious role of hosting the 81st Annual Academy Awards. Live from the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, he wowed those in attendance and helped ABC score a 13% increase in viewership from the previous year. This wasn’t, however, Jackman’s first foray into Awards show hosting. Previously, Jackman served as host of the Tony Awards three years in a row from 2003 – 2005, earning an Emmy Award for his 2004 duties at the 58th Annual ceremony, and an Emmy nomination for his 2005 appearance at the 59th Annual ceremony.

Additionally, Jackman has starred in Shawn Levy’s Real Steel, Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain, Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, and Woody Allen’s Scoop. In addition, he lent his voice to the animated features Happy Feet and Flushed Away. Other films in which he has had leading roles include Deception, Someone Like You, Swordfish, Van Helsing, and Kate and Leopold, for which he received a 2002 Golden Globe nomination.

For his portrayal of the 1970s singer-songwriter Peter Allen in “The Boy From Oz,” Jackman received the 2004 Tony Award for Best Actor in a musical as well as Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World awards.

Additional theater credits include “Carousel” at Carnegie Hall, “Oklahoma!” at the National Theater in London (Olivier Award nomination), “Sunset Boulevard” (MO Award - Australia's Tony Award) and Disney's “Beauty and the Beast” (MO Award nomination).

Jackman's career began in Australia in the independent films Paperback Hero and Erskineville Kings (Australian Film Critics' Circle Best Actor award and The Australian Film Institute Best Actor nomination). In 1999, he was named Australian Star of the Year at the Australian Movie Convention.