- The Observer, Sunday July 15 2001
How do you get round the fact that the hero of your big-budget action movie is a computer hacker? Well, for the people making Swordfish - the Joel Silver thriller with John Travolta as the master villain - the answer was to cast 6ft 3in Australian Hugh Jackman. That way your code-cracking guy can also have believable punch-ups. As Jackman had gone from unknown to fast-rising star by playing Wolverine in X-Men - a part he only got because Dougray Scott was stuck doing Mission: Impossible II reshoots - it's easy to assume he is a macho guy straight from a ranch in Queensland.
In fact, his parents were English, and four siblings were born in the UK, although Hugh was born in Sydney. This man is no roughneck, he has a degree in journalism. He's no youngster either, at 32. But despite having only five films under his belt, he has definitely arrived. UK audiences can also see him doing romantic comedy opposite Ashley Judd in Animal Attraction. Next up is Kate & Leopold , in which Jackman plays a Victorian transported into the future, being shown around New York by scientist Meg Ryan. Turns out Hugh Jackman is not the new Mel Gibson.
Animal Attraction opens on 20 July; Swordfish opens 27 July
Five things you need to know about Hugh Jackman
1. He studied journalism at the University of Technology in Sydney.
2. His dad was an accountant.
3. He is left-handed.
4. He has one adopted child with wife Deborra-Lee Furness.
5. Stage credits include Sunset Boulevard and Oklahoma!
