Gentlemen, listen up. Hugh Jackman has shared some wise words and revealed his secret to a happy marriage. The actor and his producer wife Deborra-Lee have been together for more than two decades and will celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary next month.
When asked if there was a slogan he lives by, Hugh told Australian morning show Sunrise: "Have a go."
"The other one, the most important one, is drummed into me every day," he added. "Happy wife, happy life. That's the slogan. We're about to celebrate our 20th."
Hugh said he lives by the slogan "Happy wife, happy life"
Hugh, 47, and his wife Deborra, 60, recently spent the Easter weekend in Sydney with the couple's two children. The holiday took a scary turn when their son Oscar and daughter Ava were caught in a riptide at Bondi Beach with other swimmers and youngsters.
Assisted by another man, Hugh pulled his daughter out of the water. He then joined lifeguards in bringing his son Oscar to safety, after the teenager had difficulties navigating the strong current.
Speaking about the incident, Hugh calmly shrugged it off, saying his son had spent too much time in the US. "My son got a little caught," he told Sunrise. "I've had him in America too long. That's a sure sign. Getting caught in a rip, that's a sure sign I haven't had him at the beach enough."
The actor said: "She's the greatest thing that ever happened to me"
Hugh and his wife Deborra met in 1995 on the set of Australian TV show Correlli. The actor proposed with an engagement ring he had personally designed for his bride, and their wedding rings bore the Sanskrit inscription "Om paramar mainamar," translated as "we dedicate our union to a greater source".
The couple married in April 1996 in Melbourne, and after two miscarriages, they adopted their two children Oscar and Ava.
Hugh said that when he first met Deborra he had a "major crush" on her
Earlier this year Hugh praised his wife, saying during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show: "It gets better and better, I can honestly say that. She's the greatest thing that ever happened to me."
Describing how they met on set, Hugh admitted: "She was the star and I had this major crush on her. Everyone did. The whole crew had a crush on her and I was so embarrassed by that, I didn't talk to her for about a week.
"I had a dinner party and I invited her over and about 20 other people. And she said, 'What's a matter, have I annoyed you? You're not talking to me anymore. What have I done wrong?' and I said – I'd had a couple [of drinks] – and I said 'Oh look, I've got a crush on you, I'll get over it.' And she went, 'Oh really,' and I was like, 'Oh this is bad.' And she goes, 'Yeah, I got one on you too.' And I'm like, 'Oh great!' So that was it."