Hugh Jackman Remembers The Moment He Knew Deborra-Lee Furness Would Be His Wife

Hugh Jackman knew very early on that Deborra-Lee Furness would be the woman who he would be spending the rest of his life with, according to a report by Entertainment Tonight. During an interview on Tuesday on the Aussies in Hollywood With Jenny Cooney, the 50-year-old Jackman and his wife of 22 years spoke about their first time meeting in 1995 on the set of the Australian TV show Correlli.

Furness recalled at the time that she had been spending much of her time in Los Angeles trying to make it as an actress before she met a fortune teller who told her that she should return to Australia where “everything comes into place.” Furness earned a role on the show upon returning to her home country, meeting Jackman on the set. At the time, Furness was not ready for a relationship, saying, “I had just made my New Year’s resolution, I said, ‘I am not dating any actors, and definitely not under 30. I then meet my husband.”

Jackman spoke about the chemistry the pair had whenever they shared a scene together, describing it to Cooney by saying, “The best experience I ever had, working with another actor [was with Deborra]. This was before we were romantically involved or had any idea that Deborra was interested. There was a chemistry… and every time we had a scene together it was unbelievable. Professionally, I’ve never had anything quite like that again.”

As they both continued their careers on the show, Furness began to realize how much she missed Jackman when he wasn’t on set. However, when Jackman first suggested that the pair settles into a serious relationship, Furness wasn’t completely on board.

Jackman remembered the situation well, saying, “I knew very early, I knew before Deb knew, even when she tried to break up with me, I knew [she was the one]. She kind of [broke up with me], a little bit. Early on, three weeks in. I managed to talk her out of it, thank God. I’m a very indecisive person, Deb really knows this about me. I can count on my hand the amount of times in my life anything has felt that clear to me, and when it happens it’s such a relief for me.”

Jackman was proven correct when 11 months later the couple got married on April 11, 1996. Jackman and Furness share two adopted children, 18-year-old son Oscar and 13-year-old daughter Ava.