Hugh Jackman Remembers The Day He Met His Wife Deb At His First Job After Drama School | PeopleTV

Then you're an actor and you get a part on a TV series, a new show called Gnarly. And there was a star of the show. Yeah. Named Deb. Debra Lee Furness. First job out of drama school, it was a massive break for me. I was really scared. Except Deb, I just, everyone, she's a big star. Everyone loved Deb. I get picked up by the second AD and Deb is in the front seat of the car. So the star is in the front. I get in the back seat. I'm always like, that's a good sign. Front seat of the car. I always thought these big stars only sat in the back. She had sunglasses on. I remember she took off her seat belt and she turned around on the front seat with her knees on the front seat. And she put out her hand and took off her sunglasses and said, hi, I'm Debra Lee Furness. Nice to meet you. And I remember thinking, I like this girl. She was obviously very, very beautiful and all that. But just the way she broke down any barrier, forget star and all that. So I was telling everybody, I said, she's unbelievable. Like she got picked up first. I got picked up second. She took off her sunglasses. She's not a star at all. Day two, I get picked up and I come out ready to see Deb. Deb's not in the car. I said, what happened to Deb? She said, oh, I had a little phone call saying, please make sure you pick me up last. So there's a little bit of star in her. And when did you get the courage to ask her? I knew I had a crush. I realized another guy on set, I was watching him and I saw him do this thing where he saw. It's hard to describe, but he saw Deb about to come down a hallway. And I watched him manufacture a. Oh, there you are. Like I saw him see it and walk out and then do it. Oh, I just bumped into you to start a conversation. I remember thinking, look at that guy. So pathetic. He's got a. He's got a crush. The moment I said it, I realized I was jealous and I had a crush and I was mortified. This is maybe six weeks into shooting. Deb and I are already best friends. And I'm like, I've got a crush on my leading lady. This is the thing you do not do. Like you never have a relationship with your leading lady. Whatever chemistry there was is gone instantly. It's bad as a professional and embarrassing. I was like, I bet everybody knows. So I didn't talk to Deb for a week. I literally from every day being best friends, did not speak to her for a week. Just throws her out. Yeah, I was like, this is humiliating. She's probably looking like, oh, my God, this guy is so pathetic. So then after about five days, I was like, this is not a good plan. Like I can't just not talk to her at all. So I thought, oh, I'm going to have a dinner party. And I invited 20 people. Damn, I'm having 20 people over. You want to come? Whatever like that. Anyway, so she came over. And I said, Dave, I really give me a hand with the dessert. My dad had taught me how to. He was a great cook. My dad, he taught me how to make crepe Suzette. And I rang him. He said, this is a good way to impress people. You know, the flambe, flaming crepes. Anyway, I rang him for a refresher. He told me. And I said, Deb, come and give me a hand. What my dad didn't tell me is it's a good hour to make crepe Suzette. So everyone's sitting at the dinner table. Luckily, it's Australia. They're all drunk. So they didn't know. But Deb and I had like 45 minutes. I was a little drunk. She might have been a little tipsy. And somewhere in those 45 minutes, I stupidly admitted that I had a crush on her because she said, Why aren't you talking to me? Why don't you talk? Have I done something to you? I noticed you haven't talked to me like in a week. What's going on? I said, I've got a crush on you, Deb. I'll get over it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's embarrassing. She goes, Oh, because I've got a crush on you, too. And I was like, right. What? I never in a million years thought she reciprocated. Not in a million years was that possible.