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Hugh Jackman gushes to Hoda about 25-year marriage: '1 of the best things by far'

The "Reminiscence" star told Hoda about the beloved qualities of wife Deborra-Lee Furness that have been a big part of their 25-year marriage.
/ Source: TODAY

Hugh Jackman is an award-winning actor, a Marvel superhero and a Broadway leading man, but there is one aspect of his life that stands above all his accomplishments.

Jackman has been married to Deborra-Lee Furness for 25 years, raising a pair of children with the love of his life in a business not known for long, successful marriages.

"It's been one of the best things by far," Jackman told Hoda Kotb on TODAY Thursday.

The couple celebrated their silver wedding anniversary in April, with Jackman, 52, gushing over Furness, 65, on Instagram, saying being married to her is "as natural as breathing."

The happy couple celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in April.
The happy couple celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in April. TODAY

"Deb is the lightest, most optimistic person I've ever met in my life," he told Hoda. "If you ever want to play the game, 'Who's the happiest person in the room?' Deb wins.

"When she goes to bed, she's like one of those dolls that when their eyes are open, as soon as they're horizontal, the eyes close. And then as soon as she wakes up in the morning like this. She's like, 'Hey, morning. What are we doing today? Ah, it's going to be so great.' She just makes the most of everything."

The couple met on the set of the Australian TV series “Correlli” in 1995, and got married in 1996. They have two adopted children together, Oscar Maximilian, 21, and Ava Eliot, 16.

"People often say, 'Oh my God, marriage, it's so much work,'" Jackman said. "There are some things you've got to live by, but it hasn't felt like that."

Jackman, who stars in the new sci-fi film "Reminiscence" coming out on Friday, is also thankful that he achieved his fame a little later in his career. He was 30 when he rocketed to superstardom playing Wolverine in a series of X-Men films.

"I really feel for the kids who become very famous and successful early on in life," he said. "I mean, 'X-Men' was my first real movie in America. I was 30.

"I think it helps having had some rejection and some real-life experience."

The couple got married only a year after first meeting in 1995 on the set of an Australian television show.
The couple got married only a year after first meeting in 1995 on the set of an Australian television show. TODAY

Jackman is also making his return to the stage in a revival of the classic Broadway show "The Music Man," which is set to open in December. It's the first musical in which Jackman ever performed during the Australian equivalent of his freshman year of high school.

"I was salesman number two," he said. "Gutted I didn't get the lead part. No, I'm kidding. I was in that whole opening. And I loved that musical.

"So in my head I was, like, 'One day, one day.' So here it is. So to be coming back in 'The Music Man' on Broadway, there's nothing like Broadway. Particularly for a musical, that's the pinnacle."