Hugh Jackman on how his new film _The Son_ changed him as a parent

I am so excited for my talk at the table because I'm talking to the one and only Hugh, as in Jackman. Yeah. You know him as the iconic character Wolverine in the X-Men franchise and his unforgettable leading roles in stuff like The Greatest Showman and La Miserable. He was just nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in his new film, it's called The Son. This is a really different role for Hugh Jackman. He plays a father who is trying his best to take care of his teenage son who has been struggling with mental health issues. Here's a look. Starting tomorrow, whether you like it or not, you're going back to school. Is that clear? No. Sorry? I'm saying no. I will not go back to school. What are you doing, Nicholas? What do you want? When I was your age and my mother was sick, I wasn't seeing my father anymore, I had money problems but I fought on. I fought on and believe me, most days it was no joke. And what has happened to you? What is there in your life that is so dramatic? You're not able to go to school like everybody else. Answer me. I can't deal with it. I don't understand what that means. You can't deal with what? Living. I can't deal with living and it's your fault. Oh, no parent ever wants to hear that. It's your fault. Hugh Jackman joins us now. Good morning to you, Hugh Jackman. It's so good to see you. I'm sitting here holding the thing that says, best performance by an actor in a motion picture drama. Hugh Jackman, The Son, what did you think when you got this news yesterday? Well, I know because I handed that to you. I was greatly honored. It's a huge thrill and it's a role I'm really proud of and a film that I worked with incredible people and a story that I really think needs to be told. So this is all wonderful icing on the cake. All I can say is well deserved. I think you've upped the bar. But this role, when I think about this role for you, I think we're seeing you in a way that we haven't seen you before. But when you first read the script, you actually reached out to the director. Yeah. One of the... You normally don't do that. No. One of the great motivators an actor can ever get is when their agent rings and says, listen, there's this amazing role, but they're talking to a couple of other actors. I'm like, really? But I knew Florian Zeller's work. So for audiences who don't know Florian, he just recently did the film The Father, which he won the Oscar for and Anthony Hopkins won the Oscar for two years ago. And he's written many plays. I almost did one of his plays. So I knew his work. I did not know The Son. I knew of it. I read it that day. And I was like, in my gut, Gail, I felt I had to play this part. I really wanted this story to be told and I wanted to be part of it. So I thought, I rang my agent and said, I'm just going to email him. But I'd heard he was talking to someone else. So I think I said something like, I hear you may be dancing with someone else. I'm not the kind of guy to cut in on a dance. But if you haven't made a decision... But if you're not, I just said, I'd lay my cards on the table and said, I'd love to play the part. Well, go Mr. Zeller. He rang me the next day and offered me the part. Yeah, you all were talking over Zoom. He knew that you were the one. But this is what struck me. Number one, I have to say this movie is very hard to watch. It takes you on such a journey between a parent and a child, between a father and a son, between divorce. There's all sorts of layers in this movie. But you have said that this has changed you as a parent. How? I think I've learned it's okay to not know. It's okay to lead with vulnerability. I mean, I have a 22 and a 17 year old. So they're kind of adult. In this age range of this movie, too, by the way. Yes, in the story, it's a 17 year old. And I think this area of mental health, there's a line in the movie that says, love is not enough. It's not always enough. It's the most important thing, of course. But sometimes when you're dealing with mental health crisis, we need to rely on other people. And I think as a parent, I will now say things to my kids like, I don't know, I'm actually not sure. Give me a second. I'm sorry. I'm feeling a bit nervous or scared. I'm sorry if I look disappointed. I'm not disappointed. I'm just worried. Have you not done that before? No. I think in the past, I was more like they want to see stability. They want to see strength and surety and confidence as a father, you know, that that will help them. But I think sometimes I see it in their face. They go, oh, that's all right, Dad. Yeah. No. I say, can we just talk about this together? Because I'm not sure what to do here. Yeah. I'm worried, but I don't know how to handle it. There's a very powerful scene in the movie where the son, you know, the doctors are giving you one advice and the son is saying, no, no, no. And I watched that scene and it ripped me apart because who do you believe in that moment? The son is saying, no, don't make me do this. The doctor is saying, you must do this. It's a big back and forth. And ultimately the parents make the decision and they were comfortable with that decision. That scene really got to me, Hugh, because I put, what do you do in a situation like that where your child is pleading with you, pleading, begging with you and telling you I'm going to be fine. I just need your support. Take me out of here. This is making it worse. And the doctor is saying, no, trust me, I wouldn't do this with my son. It's an impossible situation. There is no no. And that's the horrible, hard fact about being a parent. You make mistakes, you don't know what to do, and you're making them under stress and under pressure and without necessarily the knowledge. And I think what this movie is doing is starting conversations, saying it's okay to not know. It's okay to lean on other people. It's okay to take a second. It's okay to say, I'm not sure, give me a moment and to realize it takes a village to raise a child. It really does. It does. And in the middle of this movie, you lose your own father. I met your dad back in the day. God, he was something else. He was so lovely, so kind, so proud of you, so really proud of you and didn't mind saying that. And shortly after his death, you have to shoot a very emotional scene. Did that play into it? I was, when I was watching it, I thought, boy, Hugh was really going. And I didn't know at the time, the timing of your father's death in relation to that scene. Did that make a difference for you in that moment? Yeah, it was. I would say whilst doing this movie, the subject matter, as well as my father passing COVID, I felt I was a bit of a hot mess, Gail. Yeah, I was in sleeping grade. I gave myself over to the process and it was very healing ultimately. But that day when I shot that very emotional scene, I remember thinking I need to lean on everybody here. Often in the past, if I had a very emotional scene, I'll just get into my own world and I was like, oh no, I need here, like the crew, the camera, the sound, people, everyone, I need to roll. And I felt my father's presence. That was a beautiful surprise for me. I could feel him sort of in the corner and his love and that got me through. It's a beautiful scene. And may I just say, the crew will always get you through. It's always been my experience, a crew will always get you through. They will. True. I actually wrote in my journal that morning. We were talking about journaling before. And you're journaling, yes. I'm journaling now. Yes. I was a little, my therapist was like, dude, you need to start journaling. And I was like, all right. What did you think? I was like, oh, homework. I've heard journaling. All right, gratitude journal, let's do the journal. I will not wake up without doing my journal now. Really? Every day you do? It starts with I feel. I don't know, maybe it's more typical of men than women, but I'm not having, even as an actor, not necessarily articulate. No, it's more typical of women than men to write I feel, because men- Exactly. I don't think we're that articulate. And I wasn't that articulate about what I was feeling. I would write things like confused and he says, never write confused. I said, but I feel confused. And he goes, no, you don't. You just feel two things at once. Write both things down. I feel this. I feel angry and I feel relieved. That's good. And parts of me feel this, parts of me. So now it really, really helps me. And anyway, I wrote that morning in my journal, the names of every one of the crew and I said, I'm going to need Bob. I'm going to need- Yes, I need Tony. I need Patty. I need Klaus. I need Lady Lee. I so get it. And Wolverine and Deadpool. Yes. What is happening there? Because everyone thought Wolverine is done, but it seems like Wolverine might be coming back in Deadpool. Wolverine is coming back. And how are we feeling about that? We don't like to say it in Deadpool. We like to say Deadpool's coming back into the Wolverine movie, generally. To be clear. Just to be clear. I really thought I was done. And by the way, Ryan honestly emailed me, rang me, texted me, hounded me for years. And I was honestly like, dude, I'm out. I'm out. August 14th. I remember I was just driving and it came to me like that. I'm not done. I want to do it. And I rang him immediately and he said, yep, let's do it. So we're doing it. So I can't wait. You and Ryan together are very special. And I was there opening night for Music Man. I was in row H screaming. Did you remember me? I was wearing yellow. I remember. That's the only thing I remember. He was good. So you're wrapping up January. January 15th. We have five weeks. Five weeks left. You ready? Yeah. It's been an amazing run and I'm ready to move on to new things. But I'm going to miss everybody in that theater. There's 150 people in that theater every single day. I love them. And I'm going to miss them like crazy. But yeah. Yeah. But Hugh Jackman, they love you. We all love you. And we are cheering you on. Golden Globes. Congratulations. Thank you. My best to your lovely wife. I will. I'll pass that on as soon as I get home. You two are awesome together. She loves you. I feel the same. Hugh Jackman in the movie called The Sun opens nationwide on. When does it open nationwide, Hugh? It's open. Oh, nationwide. Which one? January 20th. Terrible. Hugh, it's in the prompter. What a pro... Hugh, it's in the prompter. This is so early. I'm doing shows at night. It's early. Give me a break. No, we're glad you're... January 20th. We got it.