Hugh Jackman reveals male dieting tips

Actor Hugh Jackman, 40, became a star thanks to his role as Wolverine in the X-Men films. He is married to Deborra-Lee Furness and they have two children. His latest offering, epic blockbuster Australia, is released in cinemas this week.

What are your own Australian roots?
Both my parents are English and emigrated in 1967; I was born the year after. They were called ‘ten-pound poms’. Back then, the Australian government tried to get educated English and Canadian people to move to Australia so they offered them citizenship and a whole load of incentives. For £10, you could sail your entire family out to Australia so that’s what my father chose to do.

Was that an easy decision for them to make?
He said it just seemed like a wise decision for the family. He already had three kids with a fourth on the way – I was number five. He wasn’t earning a lot of money. He was doing OK but the thought of living in London with five kids was a nightmare so he moved to Australia. Back then, Australia was still a bit of a frontier so they were attracted by the idea of the space and opportunity.

How much horse-riding experience did you have before working on Australia?
I’d done a bit of horse riding but then I read the script and realised what was expected of me. It said I had to corral 100 wild horses, which went up to 200 when we were shooting. At that point I realised I had a lot of work to do physically. I actually rode every day for a year leading up to the film and then every day while we were filming. If you add it all together, it was a lot of riding.

What was working with Nicole Kidman like?
We’ve known each other for almost 15 years. She was best mates with my wife when she first went to Hollywood so it was really terrific to work together. You don’t really know someone until you’ve done a film with them because you see people under a lot of stress. It was physically very tough. We were in locations where it was nearly 50˚C some days and we were in ridiculous costumes, riding and sleeping in tents, so we got to know each other very well. She’s very enthusiastic, very demanding of herself and very professional.

Your body is incredible. What training do you do?
I started training intensively in the gym two years ago to get into the right shape for X-Men Origins. It meant my body got bigger and bigger during Australia, and [director] Baz Luhrmann said: ‘I’m not sure if we can cut our film together because you keep changing.’ I train for an hour and a half a day, five days a week – weights, treadmill, rowing, everything. Then I do what my trainer calls ‘a play session’ on the sixth, which previously would have killed me in itself.

What about diet and eating?
It’s all about eating. I get up at 4am and eat egg whites, then every three hours after that. I have a combination of protein or steamed vegetables and brown rice. Then after midday, no rice or carbohydrates. It’s just vegetables and meat or fish.

You must be incredibly disciplined.
I’m not going to live this way for the rest of my life. I do have treats, I love dark chocolate, beer and red wine. I love going out for dinner and do cheat sometimes.

The film is highly emotional. Do you cry in films and which films make you cry?
I’m not an easy crier but the last film where I had a good cry was Tsotsi. That one really got to me. Another big one was Shadowlands. That last scene with Anthony Hopkins absolutely slayed me.

What’s it like being voted the ‘sexiest man alive’?
It’s great. My wife said: ‘Obviously Brad wasn’t available this year.’ My son Oscar, who is eight, said: ‘You? You’ve gotta be kidding me!’

Where are you happiest?
At home with the family.

Via metro.co.uk