Hugh Jackman: Wolverine star on mental health problems

Actor Hugh Jackman has said helium was "a blistery mess" making his latest film, The Son.

The 54-year-old X-Men prima explained: "I surely realised however susceptible I was."

He plays a palmy lawyer with a teenage lad (Zen McGrath) from a erstwhile matrimony who is suffering from depression.

Jackman told the BBC the taxable substance of the movie and returning to acting aft not moving during Covid lockdowns caused him "anxiety".

And past his begetter died portion helium was making the movie.

"My begetter really ne'er missed a time of enactment successful his life," Jackman says, explaining wherefore helium did not instrumentality immoderate clip disconnected to grieve. "I did ideate what my begetter would accidental and helium would say, 'Go to work'."

Nonetheless, making The Son was hard and the unit took its toll.

"I would beryllium 1 of the slightest [likely] radical I cognize who I'd picture arsenic a blistery mess, but I surely was during this."

Jackman suffered sleepless nights portion playing the relation of Peter, a workaholic with a caller partner, young baby, an ex-wife and their troubled teenage son. The prima says helium continues to consult a therapist who helped him done filming.

The film's producers besides employed psychiatrists connected acceptable successful lawsuit members of the formed and unit needed to speech astir the upsetting material.

"This was the archetypal clip I'd ever seen specified a happening connected a film," says Jackman, "and radical utilized it and it was necessary."

While intimacy coaches person go commonplace erstwhile enactment scenes are being filmed, Jackman advocates intelligence wellness enactment arsenic well.

"There's a small portion of the aged schoolhouse portion of my encephalon [that thinks], 'Well, that's up to you to enactment out.' If you request to spell to a doctor, for immoderate reason, your foot, your intelligence health, you know, you enactment that out.

"But I deliberation it surely would beryllium a motion from an leader that we recognize taking attraction of the full person, not conscionable paying them, but taking attraction of their wellbeing successful each forms is really, truly important."

See-Saw films, which produced The Son, worked with the Film and TV Charity, which has developed a free industry-wide resource to destigmatise mediocre intelligence wellness successful movie and TV.

The charity's 2021 Looking Glass survey recovered that 9 successful 10 radical moving successful the assemblage had experienced a intelligence wellness problem.

The Whole Picture Toolkit offers guidance and proposal connected supporting intelligence wellness and wellbeing connected acceptable and pre and post-production and, truthful far, the kit has been adopted by 35 productions.

Jackman says helium hopes The Son volition spark conversations astir intelligence wellness issues "that are urgently needed".

He says: "There is simply a existent deficiency of cognition and ignorance and shame astir the taxable and I deliberation it's thing we request to confront, really, truly quickly."

The film, which explores absentee parenting and the effects of divorcement connected children arsenic good arsenic teen intelligence illness, is pugnacious to watch.

However, Jackman has already received a Golden Globe information for champion histrion for his relation successful the drama.

It comes astatine a infinitesimal erstwhile immoderate are questioning the aboriginal of gendered acting categories successful awards ceremonies.

Jackman says he's a "a large fan" of having 1 sex neutral acting class successful which each performers compete.

"That would beryllium a truly affirmative step. I don't recognize wherefore it's divided into conscionable 2 genders erstwhile we each cognize it's a overmuch bigger spectrum."

Acknowledging that helium "might person conscionable changeable myself successful the foot" arsenic his ain chances of winning would beryllium halved if determination was 1 non-binary acting class alternatively of abstracted champion histrion and histrion categories, helium adds: "Whatever the premix is, we should possibly conscionable interruption down immoderate of those categories that extremity up being divisive and unnecessary."

If the past is thing to spell by, Jackman could beryllium successful with a outcry of taking location an grant this season. The Son was co-written and directed by Florian Zeller, who directed the 2020 play The Father, which earned its prima Sir Anthony Hopkins his 2nd Oscar.

Sir Anthony, celebrated for his roles successful The Silence of the Lambs, the Thor movies and Westworld, makes a cameo quality successful The Son.

And Jackman gives a fascinating penetration into however Sir Anthony continues to enactment aft much than six decades connected screen.

"He changeable for 1 day. He spent six months emailing the manager Florian each azygous day. Florian said to me, 'I got arsenic galore emails astir this 1 country successful a movie arsenic I did for The Father, wherever helium is successful each scene.' He takes it truthful seriously."

And that meticulous attack continued connected set.

"At 1 point, helium wanted to redo his close-up again. And I pulled Florian speech and I said: 'But what helium did was truthful incredible.'

"And helium said: 'Oh yeah, I've got everything I need, but I deliberation helium conscionable misses acting. He hadn't acted for 18 months. I deliberation helium conscionable misses it, helium wanted different go.'"

The Son represents a departure for Jackman, who played Wolverine successful 9 blockbuster films - and is coming backmost for astatine slightest 1 more.

He besides made his sanction successful movie musicals, including Les Misérables and The Greatest Showman and connected Broadway, wherever helium is presently starring successful The Music Man. So however does helium prime roles?

"I'm ever looking for things that I haven't done before, that situation me, that scare me," Jackman says.

"And by the way, erstwhile I did Wolverine, it ever frightened me, too. That's a cardinal miles distant from who I americium arsenic well."