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Fans were thrilled when Hugh Jackman recently shared a heart-warming photo of an affectionate exchange with his mom, Grace McNeil, who he clearly adores.
But mother and son weren’t always this close.
Although they seem perfectly at ease with each other in the snap, which the X-Men star posted on Instagram with a one-word caption “Mum”, it’s taken them many years to get to this point.
In fact they were estranged for many years after Grace walked out on the actor and his brothers when they were just kids.
In a 2011 interview with British newspaper The Sun, Hugh revealed that his mom left the family home in Australia for her native England when he was just eight.
She left behind Hugh and his brothers, Ian and Ralph, but took his sisters, Zoe and Sonya.
His dad, Chris Jackman was left to raise the boys on his own.
In an interview with Australian Women’s Weekly a few years ago, the 52-year-old actor opened up about how traumatised and embarrassed he felt after his mother vanished from his life.
“It was difficult at the time,” he said. “One of the most important things I remember is that horrible feeling that people would talk about you and look at you because it was strange for the mother to leave.
“For years I thought it wouldn’t be forever, so I stuck with that. Until about age 12 or 13, I thought Mom and Dad would get back together. Realising it wasn’t going to happen was probably the hardest time, to be honest.”
In an emotional interview on Australia’s 60 Minutes in 2012, Hugh revealed how he still vividly remembers the day she left.
“It’s weird the things you pick up. I remember her having a towel around her head and saying goodbye. It must have been the way she said goodbye as I went off to school.”
Although it was very painful, he and his mom eventually found a way to reconcile and they’re sometimes photographed together at movie premieres and other red-carpet events.
And when he shared the sweet pic of himself and his mother recently, it really struck a chord with his followers, amassing over half a million “likes” from fans across the globe.
“Such a lovely photo! Long may you both remain smiling!” one wrote, while another added, “Hoping you're both keeping well and I'm glad you got to see her and spend time together.”
Hugh has previously revealed that he’s worked through his issues with his mom.
In his interview with The Sun he said he only discovered much later that his mother left their family because after giving birth to him she suffered from prolonged postnatal depression, which was never diagnosed.
“As I grew older I gained an understanding of why mum left and we’ve definitely made our peace,” he said.
In an interview with Today, he said he can definitely see how his relationship with his mother has influenced his own parenting. He has a son, Oscar (21), and daughter, Ava (16), with his wife of 25 years, Deborra-Lee Furness.
“I think having kids of your own just adds another level of empathy and understanding. And there comes a certain point in life when you have to stop blaming other people for how you feel or the misfortunes in your life.”
Sources: people.com, thelist.com, Instagram
