Hugh Jackman Reveals that He ‘Wasn’t Sleeping’ while Filming ‘The Son’

Jackman portrays a workaholic father who struggles to care for his children emotionally in the Son. He explained that filming the movie during times of grief helped him to tap into some of his more emotionally charged scenes.

He said, “I could literally see him in the corner” I had an image of him standing behind the action. My father was a hard worker, caring for five children and carrying the entire world’s weight on his shoulders. He was completely free, I felt. This really helped me.”

Christopher was a 12 year old man who had Alzheimer’s disease. He died in December.

“He was close to the end. Jackman recalls his father’s last visit and how he seemed to be nearing the end. He would smile a little. Although I didn’t know that he would physically die, I knew it was a kind of goodbye.

He learned how to be more present for his children, Ava (17 years old) and Oscar (22.22) through the emotional rollercoaster of filming.

He said, “The movie changed me as a parent.” I’m emotionally more open with my children. I am more open about the things I’m going through, even if it’s something to do with them.

Jackman said that he went to therapy when his father’s health began to decline. Many of the grief he experienced led to sleepless nights.

He shared that he doesn’t believe he’s a good sleeper. “But I have always been capable of going to sleep quickly and sleeping as long as I want. This [film] is different. Now, I can see that I was not sleeping.

However, it wasn’t always that way. According to the self-described “morning person”, he learned to appreciate his physical and mental health working at a Sydney gym.

He recalled, “I was the one who opened the gym. In my first three weeks, I slept on two occasions.” “If you want angry people, then it’s the alpha people who are at the gym when it opens.”

He recalls those days as being “super skinny” and he is the jokester of all jokes.

“All the boys used to make fun of me. He said that they called me Anna, and that was an abbreviation for anorexia. I used to think that they were stupid. I was like, “You spend all day looking in the mirror.” It’s a waste of time.