Hugh Jackman overcomes fear

Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman was initially deterred from becoming an actor because he thought people would think he was gay.

The ‘Wolverine’ star discovered a passion for theatre and musicals when he was growing up in his native Australia and although his dad Chris was supportive of his interest, one of his brothers put him off by calling him a “poof”.

“I would love to say I was Billy Elliot, but I wasn’t. My dad was like, ‘Terrific,’ but my brother was like, ‘Ah, you poof!’ I was only about 10 or 11, but I remember thinking that this is not a good thing.”

It was when he was at university studying to be a journalist that Hugh finally realised he had no choice other than to become an actor when a he took some drama classes which led him to being cast as the lead in a production of Vaclav Havel’s ‘The oemorandum’.