Hugh Jackman Serenaded His Wife Yesterday

Hugh Jackman. Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images

Last week, Hugh Jackman gave his Les Miz co-star Amanda Seyfried a “happy birthday� lap dance. Yesterday, he serenaded his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, at a lunch hosted by the Peggy Siegal Company at the Four Seasons. “It’s way too early to sing,� he said, apologizing for a strained voice. “But I saw Sammy Barks in the lobby of the hotel last night in her pajamas at the same time I was there, so I have no excuse.� (Barks sang a sultry “Summertime� before he took the stage.) “I don’t get to do this very often, but a lot of this week has been about just being grateful for all the people who’ve made this possible … so I’m going to sing a song for my wife.�

Then, accompanied by pianist Marty Silver, Jackman launched into “The Way You Look Tonight,� changing the word tonight to today, with Furness right in front, blushing. “He sings to me at every meal,� she joked with Vulture afterward. “No, he does not. It was a complete surprise. He’s full of them. And in that setting, it was very moving for me, so I shed a little tear.�

“You know, it sounds weird, but when you’re doing a press tour like this, getting any time with your wife is tough,� Jackman told us when we ran into him for a second time in one day at a gala in his honor held by the Museum of the Moving Image at Cipriani Wall Street. Jackman said he originally invited his wife to the luncheon — or as he put it, “I said, ‘Babe, can you come to lunch, please?’� — just for the chance to have “five minutes to chat, because it’s been so crazy.� The song, as it turns out, was completely spontaneous. “Got some brownie points!� he said with a grin.
 
Despite Jackman’s worries about his voice, he sounded just fine, as did Hathaway, who also downplayed her abilities (“We’re all sick and slightly hung-over�) before closing out the sing-along with “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas� with the other cast members singing backup. “You can do some minor five-part harmony, that’s fine,� she teased them before Eddie Redmayne’s voice rose out of the ensemble in an operatic bray, to much applause.
 
“They were like, ‘Oh, I had stayed up really late [the night before], I can’t sing,’� the film’s director Tom Hooper said. “And then they sang like angels.�