Then and Now: Hugh Jackman’s First and Last Appearances on 'The Ellen Show'

I saw you on Jay. Thank you. I saw you on Jay talking about how you get sick all the time and of course I'm on Broadway and the whole, of course everyone on Broadway is like, if anyone's sick, it's like, so I totally relate. So that's me being. Thank you so much for doing that. And I, it's not so far fetched because I don't know if you heard that I was talking about this on Leno that I get, I get so sick now. Everybody I touch brings me some new little, but you must have the same thing. You're shaking people's hands all the time too. I'm shaking and in fact kissing the whole thing, you know, but that's just my private life. That's just your what? Private life. No. Right. That's not even the fans. Yeah. No, it is. And you're in a theater and of course it's like this. It's all going through. It's and you get sick all the time. And they're all facing you. So when they cough, it just comes all towards you. You know, I was just watching an old Elvis thing, him at MGM. He gets off stage in the middle of his concert and I'm 15 minutes went around and kissed whichever woman came up. I mean, long passions. I don't think there was. I don't think tongue was involved, but still, I mean, it would have been a right. Terrible. Well, that's like what's his name? Richard Dawson from Family Feud. He made out with everybody on there. Do you remember that? I don't know. No, that was. Well, that was an American show. They probably didn't have it in Australia. No. We just got TV. Yeah. So because you are from where, what part of I live in Melbourne, but I was born and bred in Sydney. Yeah. And that's beautiful there, isn't it? Oh, it's gorgeous. I mean, I love it. Australia is a beautiful country. It really is. I'm going one day. One day. One day I'll be there. When you get a break, when you're not sick. Yeah. Do you get back often or? I love to go back as often as I can. In fact, I still feel like I lived there, but being on Broadway for a year, so I haven't been back like for a year or something. It's very strange for me. Well, it takes that long to get there, doesn't it? That's one of the reasons I haven't been there. It's beautiful, but it's, I think you start traveling and then you get there like, what, a week and a half later? About that. Yeah. Now, people say, how far is it, you know, from L.A. to Australia? I say it's about four sleeping tablets in a row. Right. Is that what you, now you can sleep on a plane? No. I have to, I have to take drugs. So I, I mean, it's, I'm a six, trust me, not those drugs, no, no, I'm six foot three. So even if you're at the front of the bus, it's still not a comfortable proposition. Right. So I, I'm out. Yeah. Give me the select chamber and gone. So you don't feel anything, what position you're in or anything. Because those, because you're always, you always end up waking up facing someone you don't know. You open your eyes and you're like somebody sitting next to you. It is very odd. It really, and they give you those pajamas. Actually, I'm going to go into a whole thing I don't want to go into. What are you talking about? No. What are you talking about? When you go on long haul flights, if you ever go to Australia, you walk on and they give you pajamas to get changed into. And it's a great leveler because no matter who you are. You're thinking of the Playboy Mansion, I believe. I think Hefner does that. Even if you're very rich or no matter who you are. You end up wearing these one size fits all pajamas, which could be prison issue, basically. And there you are at the front and in your pajamas and all night, you know, it's a very odd situation. And what are they made out of? Like those kind of things that the doctor gives you, they paper kind of things. No, they're not that bad, but they're, they're, they're generic cotton and I'm sure they're not new every time. Does it have a little bead in them? Are they the footsie ones? No, no, no. They're not. But I love that you even know about those. Yeah, of course. Didn't everybody have footsie pajamas? No. Oh, yes. I think that that would be fun. I think I did when I was maybe six months old. Is that what you mean? Yeah. I still wear them. All right. So you're, so you live in Australia and now we have Mother's Day coming up in a couple of days, which is, you know, a big deal here. Is that a big deal? Huge deal. It is. And in fact, my son was born the day after Mother's Day, so it's always a time of great celebration for us. So your son's birthday is coming up? Yeah. Yeah, well, of course, it falls, it's the 15th of May, so yes, it's coming up in the same week. So Oscar's just so excited, but of course, this year, he's starting to understand. How old is Oscar? I'm sorry. He's turning four. Oh. So he's now understanding that if a present is in the house, it's not only his. I mean, because for a long time, it was just his to rip and if it was electric shaver, he'd be like, yay, electric shaver and whatever it is, you know. So but now he's very excited about making breakfast for Mum. So apparently, we'll be making breakfast at about 11.30 in the morning and for Mum. Right. And it's going to be a lot of cleaning up to do. What kind of breakfast does he know? Pancakes. Oh, he wants pancakes. Pancakes are our thing, yeah. And has he done that before? He has, actually. He mixes pancakes. He can make Jell-O and he's not bad with crepes as well. Wow. The flambé version, you know, he's pretty good. Yeah, right. That's nice. He just lights everything on fire. It's not intended to be flambé, but it is. Those Pringles? Excellent. And so at four, now what's he, because boys at four years old are into all kinds of messy things, right? Yeah. But Oscar is into all the things we're not, geology, astronomy, I mean, planets. But I mean, we go to the museum and he's like, tell me the makeup of that rock again, Dad, you know. So the molecular makeup, I can read 35 times to him. And by the third, I'm like, you know, over and over again. And he understands what you're saying? No, but he's interested in it, which is... All right. But you were here a couple of weeks ago. It was right before the Christmas break. You were going back to Australia and you were going to have 25 people at your house. How did that go? Honestly, I thought, oh, this could be arguments. It was perfect. It was fantastic. Oh, that's... We did so much. We may have killed a couple of them just from exhaustion. But anyway, we like to party in Australia. But we had a great time. Oh, that's so good. It was so good. It was good. It was quiet. It wasn't like that at all. Really? We had just a very small, quiet year this year. Yeah. So you went to the beach, which is good for everybody, really. Everybody gets to see you at the beach and we're in a good mood. Thank you. It's almost like... I just turned around. Yeah. I just kept turning. You know, that's a good body at any age, but to know you're about to turn 50, that's a good body. Thank you. Yeah. Congratulations. Occupational hazard, I'm afraid. No, you take care of yourself, obviously. You know, I have a thing with... I do. I have to. But I have a thing with the paparazzi. It's weird. Down in Australia, they'll come to me and they all know me at this point. And I'll say to them, I'll say, okay, what do you need, guys? And one of the main guys there, Shane, goes, well, we need you at the Bondi, shirt off. I said, all right. Tomorrow morning, 8 o'clock. And so they all turn up. It's embarrassing. There's like 30 of them. And they leave me alone. They leave you alone the rest of the time? The rest of the time. That's fantastic. Yeah. I figured, no, that's a deal. I'll take it. Yeah, that's great. They should do that here. They don't do that here. No, no, no. It's very civilized down there. Yeah. Wow. Or maybe because they all want two weeks off. They're like, do it tomorrow. Unfortunately for them, the day before, Zac Efron was with me. We were training at the gym. And he was there. Not one person was there. They didn't know we were there yet. Oh. Yeah, I felt bad for them. Man. Now, hearing that now, they're furious. They're going to go to the gym every day just waiting. Let's talk about this movie. Tell everybody what it's about. It's a very entertaining movie. Thank you. It's got everything that you look for. Yeah. The Greatest Showman is about P.T. Barnum. And it's really less of a biopic, more a modern-day musical about the birth of show business and also about tolerance and acceptance and, you know, he had all these oddities, which back in the day were cast away from society. And he makes them not only stars, but makes them beloved. You have the bearded lady, Tom Thumb, and it's a very exuberant, upbeat. I promise you, if you go to this movie, you can take your whole family and you will leave happier than when you went in. Yeah. That's my promise to you. And the songs are great. I think the soundtrack is doing really well. We are number one. Yeah. That's amazing. Someone... Yeah. It is amazing. You and Jack. Someone just told me, like, not even Hamilton got, like, when they said you're number one, I said, you mean, like, of the movie musical starring Hugh Jackman, number one? Yeah. I said, no, like, ahead of Eminem and Ed Sheeran and all of that. So it's been amazing. It's a little bit of a dream of mine, which I didn't know I had a dream, is to have one of those, you know, like, some record. The frame, yeah. In a frame. Platinum. Yeah, it could be tin. I'll take tin. I don't care what it is, but just something. That would be great. Darn. I should have made you one. I would have known. If I would have known that was your dream, I would have made you one. If you're making me one. Yeah. A little tip. Corey. Your producer, Corey. Yes. Who I know very well. So well that I call him Tim every time I see him, but anyway. That's Corey's dream, too. So if you're making one, just make a little second one. Why hasn't Corey told us that? That's very interesting. I don't know why, but now I've told the entire nation. All right. Well, good. So Corey's next holidays is about to get 700 of these things. Now do you think that possibly you'll want to go on the road with Zach and do this kind of, this would be a great road tour. I totally agree. Yeah. I actually could see it as an arena show, like in the round, have a big spectacle. Yeah. People love the music, and I think the show lends itself to a live experience, and I think to have Keala, who's a beautiful lady, to have Zach, to have Zendaya, so could you just confirm they're in? Yes. And then, you know. Well, they've just heard it now, so I think they will be in. So you'll be- Zach and Zendaya are in. You'll get phone calls. Can you call their agent, though? Will you make sure that? You can do that. You're more powerful. I will do that. Yes. I'm part of Deep State. I can do anything I want. All right. I'd love to do that. I'd love to bring it to a live audience. Yeah. I think it's a great idea.