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Exclusive / Chic Chat with Hugh Jackman

Q: How do you enjoy shooting the film Pan?

A: The film is ten weeks on the shooting and I’ve only shot about two weeks. So I’m really just beginning my little run at them, but I’m loving it, enjoying it, enjoying no one recognizing me as well.

Q: You know for five seconds there I couldn’t recognise you because of your beard.

A: I was touring in Florence on my bike today.

Q: So when was the last time that you wrote letter? I noticed that you are pretty active on twitter.

A: I write for my children quite a bit. My wife gave me a diary for both my children, so on their 21st  birthday I will hand them a diary that I’ve written.

Q: I noticed that you’ve quite involved in a lot of social causes to poverty, what drove you to this cause?

A: My father he’s an accountant. He worked quite a while for the World Bank. During that period, he spent a lot of time in Bangladesh, Korea when I was growing up. I grew up hearing all about his trips. And it just feels that [the poverty] is a man-made problem. It’s not caused by lack of food for the seven billion people, or lack of opportunities, it’s a man-made problem. So I feel that, if you are the part of the solution you are part of the problem. That’s why I tried as best I can.

Q: Where’s your base now?

A: New York. My kids are in school in New York. I do a lot of theatre, and I’ve done that on and off sometimes as my wife is in New York, that’s why we are living there. It’s a great city and I love it. And the city is close to London and it’s easy, it’s not close to Australia unfortunately.

Q: Why theatre?

A: I’m going back to theatre on a play in September on Broadway for The River. I do quite a lot of performing, I did my one-man show quite a few years ago, I just hosted the Tony a month ago.

Q: Is it difficult picking projects now?

A: Yeah. I’m indecisive that way. It’s not a luxury that everything’s gonna happen, but the greatest luxury that I can have is [having] choices. But still, sometimes it’s hard.

Q: We talked about the social causes and you were saying that you heard a lot of stories from your father, how are you pass that down to your children?

A: I’m taking them on trips to Cambodia, with World Vison. During those trips, they actually get to see the world. Both of them are very social, I think actually the youth today are more aware of that the planet is a interconnected thing. You don’t preach them that much. Kids just get it.

Q: They want to make a difference now, you can find that.

A: My father as he was retiring, he said the biggest difference now, is when you hire graduates, the first thing they ask is about your corporate social responsibility that’s the first question. Not do I get a car? Not what can I expect all about that. I think the youth today are really doing amazing things, not on the poverty [issue] alone, but the environment and more.

Recently on set for his Blackbeard role in Pan- an adaptation of children’s story Peter Pan, Hollywood heartthrob Hugh Jackman is almost unrecognisable because of his rather sinister beard. We caught up with Jackman last month in Florence to talk about filming, charity and a secret diary he kept for his kids.