Hugh Jackman’s Secret Trauma and Pain Behind the Smiles: ‘There’s a Dark Side to That’

Hugh Jackman comes across as Mr. Happy when the cameras are on him, but a source exclusively tells Closer that in private he’s way more intense and sad about certain events in his past especially which requires him to dig deep into spirituality and rely on friends plus a steady stream of work to keep his morale high.

“Hugh is good at putting on a brave face for the cameras and getting his fans excited for his latest project, but there’s a dark side to that,” a source in Hugh’s world says. “His childhood was hard, his mother left the family, and that led Hugh to a career where he could only find real happiness on the stage.”

The insider continues, “And decades later that’s still pretty much the case and that’s still the reason Hugh is such a workhorse and hates turning down work. Even with the difficulties of the pandemic and then his divorce, Hugh has not slowed down one bit.”

The source describes Hugh, 55, as a “spiritual person,” but says that “his main coping mechanism for the challenges of life is work.”

“He’s quite proud of what he’s managed to build between the blockbuster films and his outstanding runs on Broadway,” the insider adds. “But will he ever slow down enough to actually settle down and find a new partner? Hugh is not prioritizing that right now, whatsoever.”

The X-Men star returned to the silver screen with yet another hit in July 2024 with Deadpool & Wolverine. While Hugh’s last run as Wolverine was originally thought to be in 2017’s Logan, Ryan Reynolds thrilled fans when he announced that Hugh would be taking up those adamantium claws once more.

However, comic book fans weren’t the only ones who thought Hugh’s turn in Logan would be the last time he portrayed the X-Man. Hugh actually admitted that he believed he was done with the character, too.

“I believed it. The best lies are when you believe them yourself,” Hugh said during an interview with Good Morning America on July 22. “I actually just thought I’d done everything I could, I couldn’t think of anything else.”

In August 2022, Ryan, 47, called The Greatest Showman star and asked him to reconsider putting on that yellow suit one more time. The fact that the two men are good friends in real life didn’t hurt either.

“We are genuinely great friends. I had to pinch myself every single day,” Hugh explained during the GMA interview. “We took a photo … on the first day of Shawn [Levy], me and Ryan. We were hugging and our foreheads were touching and it was like let’s not forget this moment and we had this opportunity. The movie itself has come out even better than I could have imagined.”

Shortly before Deadpool & Wolverine hit theaters, Ryan’s good friend Taylor Swift shared her excitement for the movie and even managed to take a hilarious jab at the Free Guy star while singing Hugh’s praises.

“Over the past few years I have watched one of my best friends on this planet pour every bit of his heart, soul, sweat, time, energy, jokes, pain, joy, rebellion, darkness and magic into this film,” Taylor, 34, wrote. “He’s created the best work of his life, and this film feels like an actual joy portal, a wild escape from reality and an abs sandwich. I don’t know how he did it. But that’s just Hugh for you. These other randoms crashed the photo and we were too polite to ask them to leave.”