Hugh Jackman took years to accept the fact that his mom wouldn't be coming back for him.
Hugh Jackman's mother, Grace McNeil, left their Australian home for the United Kingdom when he was eight years old and never came back. Jackman, 54, disclosed earlier this week that he is receiving treatment to help him deal with the unsolved trauma. “I just started it recently. It helped me a lot,” he said, per TODAY. “We all need a village,” he said. The actor must feel extremely under the radar as a celebrity, and does admit that “having someone really smart, who’s a little bit removed from your world, can be really helpful.”
"Most importantly, it's helping me to be more relational with the people I love in my life, and really understanding and living in their shoes and being clear to be able to see them," the magazine reported he said.
According to Jackman, it took him years to accept the fact that his mom wouldn't be coming back for him. In an interview with Who magazine in 2018, he revealed, “It was traumatic,” adding, “I thought she was probably going to come back. And then it sort of dragged on and on.”
Jackson discussed the "difficulties" that McNeil faced in a 2013 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Jackman's father put in a lot of overtime, and McNeil regretted leaving her homeland of England, he added. “I think my mom just felt incredibly isolated,” Jackman said. “She was in the hospital a long time after I was born. She had very bad postpartum depression. I’m guessing it lasted years because I remember she used to go off for little periods. I think she was feeling trapped.”
On 60 Minutes Australia in 2012, Jackman spoke candidly about the last time he saw his mother in their house. As he left for school, she waved goodbye. She was gone by the time Jackman came back. "There was no one there in the house,” he said. “The next day there was a telegram from England, Mom was there. And then that was it. I don’t think she thought for a second it would be forever. I think she thought it was, ‘I just need to get away, and I’ll come back. Dad used to pray every night that mom would come back.”
Back then, Jackman heavily leaned on his father for emotional support. He once shared, “I stayed in Australia with my father and two brothers, and had a tough time for a while. But, you know, I had a very good father who was always there for us and I could never even imagine what it must have been like to raise kids on his own the way he did for many years. I don’t think I could have done that. You need an iron will and I never heard him complain about himself or his lot in life.”
The two now have a "very good" relationship, according to Jackman. Jackman frequently posts pictures with his mom, posting an adorable one of the two hugging each other last year, captioned, "Mum." A while back, he even shared a photo of the two giggling as her mom's favorite breakfast was being made.
References:
https://www.today.com/parents/dads/hugh-jackman-therapy-childhood-trauma-mom-rcna62571
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/hugh-jackman-les-miserables-oscar-420764/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK5sm2v3h6c
https://www.instagram.com/p/CS6mD8wny_Z/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSbRObBjlgE/
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Elsa
