The Rise And Fall Of Hugh Jackman & Deborra-Lee Furness' Love Story

Navigating love in Hollywood isn't exactly easy. One day, you're madly in love, and the next, you're making headlines with one of the ugliest divorces in showbiz history. For nearly three decades, Hugh Jackman and fellow Australian actor Deborra-Lee Furness appeared to be immune from this Hollywood curse, then they suddenly called it quits.

In 2023, the couple took fans and media by surprise when they announced their plans to divorce after 27 years of marriage. Soon, rumored reasons for their split began making headlines and all aspects of their love life were analyzed, from their 13-year age gap to Jackman's rumored fling with his "The Music Man" co-star Sutton Foster, who was married at the time. However, the exes have maintained that no drama was involved and that they're just as friendly now as they were during their decades-long romance.

While we may never be sure as to what actually happened behind the scenes, here's a closer look at the rise and fall of Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness' love story.

Hugh Jackman first met Deborra-Lee Furness on the 1995 set of an Australian TV miniseries called "Correlli." Jackman was in his late twenties and had yet to become a star, while Furness was already a household name. "My first job out of drama school ... I was really scared," Jackman admitted to People during a 2017 chat. And yet, Furness made him feel at ease from the moment they met. As he told the mag, he would never forget getting picked up on his first day of work with his co-star casually hanging out in the front seat. "She took off her seatbelt and she turned around and put out her hand and took off her sunglasses and said, 'Hi, I'm Deborra-Lee Furness, nice to meet you,'" he shared, still recalling every detail of their first encounter after more than two decades.

Jackman was smitten, but he tried to hide his feelings and ignored his crush. As he explained, his feelings were "unprofessional and embarrassing." The actor only came clean after Furness called out his cold behavior, then the unthinkable happened. "She goes, 'Oh? Because I've got a crush on you too,'" he remembered. "I never in a million years thought she reciprocated."

It didn't matter that Furness was 13 years his senior — Jackman was all in. As he told Today in 2018, "I knew two weeks into meeting Deb that we were going to be together for the rest of our lives."

Hugh Jackman may have been sure of their connection from the get-go, but Deborra-Lee Furness wasn't convinced. At least, she wasn't at first. Speaking on the "Aussies in Hollywood with Jenny Cooney" podcast in 2018 (via People), Furness explained there was nothing wrong with Jackman, per se, but he was the opposite of what she was looking for at the time. "I had just made my New Year's resolution," she mused. "I said, 'I am not dating any actors, and definitely not under 30.'"

The "Wolverine" star certainly didn't fit the bill, but he wasn't easily dissuaded. "I knew before Deb knew," he told the podcast. "Even when she tried to break up with me, I knew." Turns out that just three weeks into dating, Furness told her new beau they should break up, but he wouldn't let her walk away. "I managed to talk her out of it, thank God," he shared. "I just knew 100 percent, [even] when she was trying to work out reasons to break up with me."

Once Hugh Jackman convinced Deborra-Lee Furness they shouldn't break up, their romance hit warp speed. The pair got engaged after just four months of dating and tied the knot in 1996 within a year of meeting. They were also ready to grow their family quickly, but that would prove difficult. "Because of her age, we started [trying] straight away when we were together," Jackman told People. Unfortunately, "We struggled, a couple miscarriages, IVF," he revealed. Ultimately, they decided to adopt and welcome their son Oscar in 2000, followed by daughter Ava Eliot in 2005.

Just as they agreed on everything else, Jackman and Furness were on the same page with their parenting. "We completely embrace the ancestors," Furness told People in 2020. That has meant visiting Mexico to explore their daughter's lineage and getting their son a cherished Croatian-Bosnian cookbook. "He was very proud to carry that around when he was 7 years old," she said. Similarly, both she and Jackman drew great fulfillment from their newfound roles. "They've both made me smarter than I think I ever could have been on my own," Furness enthused. Meanwhile, Jackman told Scary Mommy in 2015, "The love I have for my wife is so intense, but nothing prepared me for the love I have for my kids." He mused, "I would jump in front of a bus for them."

Given that they were one of Hollywood's longest-lasting couples, it's no surprise that Hugh Jackman was often asked to share his secrets to marital bliss. At the top of his list was complete honesty. "People talk about intimacy and assume that means in the bedroom," he told People in 2019, explaining how it actually goes far beyond that. "Really, intimacy is being able to share everything together — good, bad, fears, successes." Equally important was giving each other room to evolve — without growing apart. "We're always learning and humans change," "The Greatest Showman" star told People in 2020. "You gotta reset all the time."

Last but not least, the actor also honed in on the need to spend time together. Speaking with Smooth Radio in 2023, he again highlighted honesty and intimacy but added, "You can't just assume that things will just tick along." Rather, Jackman advised couples to actively carve out time to be with each other. "It's so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day of life," he mused, sharing how he and Furness would start every morning together. "We meditate together, then we just read a little bit from a book, and we just check in," he said.

Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness celebrated a huge relationship milestone in 2021: a quarter of a decade of marriage. Taking to Instagram to celebrate the momentous occasion, the actor shared throwback photos from their wedding day and gushed, "Being married to you Deb is as natural as breathing." Jackman again told fans how he experienced love at first sight with Furness and noted how, after 25 years together, their union was as strong as ever. "Our love has only grown deeper," he enthused. "The fun, excitement and adventure more exhilarating; the learning even greater." Looking to the future, Jackman promised, "We've only just begun."

He then shared a similar sentiment with Today, highlighting the continued happiness his marriage brought him. "People often say, 'Oh my god, marriage is so much work,' and there are some things you gotta live by, but it doesn't feel like that," he told viewers. "It's been one of the best things in my life."

In April 2023, Hugh Jackman celebrated his 27th wedding anniversary with a sweet Instagram tribute to his wife. "Together we have created a beautiful family. And life," he wrote. "I love you with all my heart." This bold declaration made the couple's divorce announcement that September all the more shocking. Releasing a joint statement to People, they assured fans they had no regrets and would keep prioritizing their family. However, they admitted, "Our journey now is shifting and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth."

Neither actor offered additional details as to what went wrong, but one source told Page Six that the separation was a long time coming. "It happened a while ago," they claimed. "Friends and family knew about it." According to the insider, a rift was already visible while Jackman prepared for the 2022 premiere of "The Music Man" on Broadway, as "Deb wasn't at rehearsals very much." Well-known Australian reporter Peter Ford clapped back at such claims while on "6PR Breakfast with Millsy and Karl," slamming, "These people are just idiots who write some of this stuff." According to Ford, their split wasn't shocking or extraordinary because, he argued, "It's not the most uncommon scenario for a couple in their fifties or sixties to — once the kids are off their hands — suddenly decide the glue that held this together isn't there anymore."

Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness' love story seemed pretty perfect, but upon closer inspection, there may have been some red flags indicating their marriage wouldn't last. Notably, as the New York Post reported in January 2023, the couple put their East Hamptons summer home up for rent — at least for the winter months. As Hello! suggested, this decision may have been a warning sign of a rift, especially because of how fond they were of the $3.5 million home, which they spent six years designing. Furness even once told Architectural Digest, "This was my lifelong dream."

What's more, an insider told the Daily Mail that both the pandemic and the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike threw a real wrench into the marriage. "The love they had for each other turned more into a friendship which got broken during COVID," they alleged. "The lockdown didn't help their marriage at all and really put a strain on their relationship." Then, once that was over, the source claimed that the inability to work due to the strike pushed them even closer to the breaking point. "It got them in the same predicament as COVID did," they said. "Hugh found it all to not have the same magic as they once had."

Divorce is never easy, but after 27 years of marriage, Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness had a particularly lengthy list of shared assets to divide. For one, the couple owned multiple homes together, but a source told Us Weekly in September 2023 that they planned to split their real estate portfolio down the middle. However, things were apparently much more complicated when it came to splitting Jackman's $180 million net worth. "Their lives were so interwoven, so it's an extremely tricky and gut-wrenching process dividing everything up and figuring out who gets what," the insider shared.

That November, RadarOnline reported that the pair may have come to a decision in regard to Jackman's personal wealth. While there was no prenup in place, sources told The National Enquirer that the actor was reportedly willing to shell out a considerable amount of money to his ex if she agreed to sign, as they put it, "An airtight non-disclosure agreement." Claiming that Furness stood to earn enough to never have to work again, they alleged, "He's a man with lots of secrets and doesn't want any of them exposed."

Hugh Jackman has mostly kept mum on his divorce, only telling TMZ, "It's a difficult time." His ex, however, has been much more forthcoming. In January 2024, Deborra-Lee Furness spoke about her split with The Daily Telegraph, noting how she was determined to make the most of it. "Change, transition, evolution is a little frightening and we are all a bit scared of it but I think it is probably our greatest gift," she said. "It is kind of exciting." Something she was particularly jazzed about was the ability to focus more on her career, and, as she told Yahoo Lifestyle, she was throwing herself back into work wholeheartedly. "I've got a few [projects] up my sleeve," she shared. "I'm working on a script with Rebecca Rigg, which I want to direct and act in." Another upside, as she told People in May 2024, was that "[I learned] that I'm strong and resilient."

This positive approach was likely facilitated by the fact that she and Jackman had such an amicable split. Just a month after their breakup announcement, they celebrated Jackman's 55th birthday together, alongside their kids and friends, at Ralph Lauren's Polo Bar in New York City.