Jackman and Furness at the Golden Globes. (Jeff Vespa/Wire Image)You haven’t truly arrived on Hollywood’s A-List until there are gay rumors about you.
Hugh Jackman has been subject to such speculation for years, even though he has always proclaimed his love of his wife of nearly 17 years, Deborra-Lee Furness.
And while the whispers may not bother him so much, they do upset her.
"Just recently, it bugs her," the “Les Mis” star, who’s up for Best Actor at the Oscars, reveals in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Citing Internet stories as the main source of her ire, he adds, "She goes: 'It's big. It's everywhere!’”
Jackman’s good friend, “X-Men” producer Lauren Shuler Donner, also vouches for his heterosexuality – and his deep love for Furness, 57. "I have seen him with Deborra since the beginning of their trip to Hollywood, and I've been on five movie sets with him and have never seen him stray, have never seen him eye anyone,” she also tells THR. “I met him when he did ‘Oklahoma! ‘[at London's Royal National Theatre in 1999]. He was genuine, hugely talented. He was in love with his wife that day and still is."
The two Aussies met while appearing on the TV show “Corelli” and it wasn’t exactly love at first sight for Furness, who is 13 years older than Jackman, and initially turned down his advances. Although he had been enjoying the single life, “When I met Deb, it was 10 times better than my single life,” he gushes. “She was very beautiful. She was unbelievably fun – this energy, this spirit – irrepressible. And she had a confidence in herself. I had a massive crush on her instantly. She was sort of the opposite of me. I was very 'Even Steven,' and she was thrilling to me. I was always really attracted to that -- though at one point, as it was getting really serious, it terrified me."
Hugh and daughter Ava in NYC last November. (Splash)
Some “sources” have claimed the fact that Jackman, 44, and Furness adopted their children, Oscar, 12, and Ava, 7, as “proof” they are not intimate, and therefore not a true couple. But Furness revealed in 2004 that she and Jackman suffered the heartbreak of many miscarriages and failed IVF attempts before finally turning to adoption.
And even though her husband often shares the screen with some of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, she has nothing to worry about, he says. In a February 5 interview with OnTheRedCarpet.com, he explained, “I've had people say to me, ‘Now how does Deb cope, if you're with Halle Berry, or Nicole Kidman, or Anne Hathaway that you work with?’ – and I say, ‘Here's the deal: They meet me, and we work, and it's fine, but as soon as they meet Deb, they don't ever want to talk to me again’ – because she's way more interesting, and way funnier, and way sexier, so it is all about Deb, and rightly so."
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