celebrity

Mamamia's Best Blokes 2016: Hugh Jackman is a national treasure.

At Mamamia, we want to acknowledge and celebrate the Australian men who are doing good things and trying to make our country a better place. So we came to you with a list of 100 great Aussie men and asked you to decide Mamamia’s 50 Best Blokes. This week, we’ll be counting down the top ten and announcing who you chose as Mamamia’s Best Bloke on Friday. Celebrating Aussie actor Hugh Jackman isn’t hard to do, and we’re thrilled he came in at number nine.

If it sounds cliched to say Hugh Jackman is one of Australia’s greatest living treasures, it’s only because it’s true. He really is!

Adored by both men and women for his talent and down-to-earth personality, the 47-year old is undeniably one of Australia’s favourite sons, as successful overseas as he is in his home town of Sydney.

At first glance it’s easy to see Jackman’s appeal. He is good looking, grounded, and talented. He’s a straight up family man who can rub shoulders with the rich and famous one day and then hang out with his old mates in Sydney on another.

Then there’s his ability to retain an accent that suggests he’s just walked out of an outback pub on a hot afternoon despite countless years spent in America. In a sea of posers he always stands out as an island of integrity and straight talk. Let’s not even start on his incredible physique.

 

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Jackman playing Blackbeard in the movie Pan. Source: Youtube

 

The breadth of his acting and performing skills is hard to surpass. He has played good guys and villains, tough guys and sensitive new age dudes in film, television and on stage. He can sing, act, and dance.

And then there's Deborra. Jackman won us over from the beginning with his complete adoration for his wife of 20 years Deborra-Lee Furness.

Speaking about his 20th wedding anniversary with wife Deborra-Lee Furness on the Ellen Show earlier this year, Jackman told DeGeneres, “Obviously, she’s the greatest thing that ever happened to me and it gets better and better," adding, "everything that's happened in my career and on-screen, off-screen, we've always done it together."

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The pair met on the set of the ABC drama Corelli in the mid 90s. The attraction was instant and just a couple of years later they married. A family came next when the couple adopted son Oscar, and daughter Ava.

Jackman and Furness on their wedding day in 1996. Source: Hugh Jackman / Facebook.

Both Jackman and Furness have spoken openly about adoption and have campaigned to simplify adoption laws in Australia. Jackman is also a long-time supporter of numerous charities including the Global Poverty Project and World Vision.

"Families come as all different types," Jackman told Mamamia last year. "They could be single parents, it could be same sex parents. You could be brought up by your grandmother, you could be adopted, but sometimes people just assume that the mum and dad and the biological thing is the normal way."

 

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Jackman playing Wolverine. Source: Youtube.

 

Although Jackman has starred in dozens of successful films, he is perhaps best know for his role as Wolverine in the XMen movie franchise. It's 16 years since Jackman first donned his claws and made his way onto our screens as the much-loved comic book character and he admits that after countless stunts and actions scenes age is finally catching up with him. Hardly!

In 2013 he was nominated for an Academy Award and a Bafta for  for his role in the 2012 musical film Les Miserables and won a Golden Globe the same year for the film.

Thanks for being such an all round great bloke Hugh Jackman - we couldn't be happier to include you in our honour roll of Best Blokes 2016.