Genuine Connection

Brand ambassador Hugh Jackman tells Charlene Co of the journeys he’s made with Montblanc and how the brand stirs emotions

- Charlene Co

It’s not every day you have Hugh Jackman greet you at the door, offer a chair and pour you a glass of water—and not before asking if you’d rather still or sparkling. If only this rather surreal scene were on the patio of the Australian actor’s sprawling wood cabin in New York state’s East Hampton on a beautiful summer day, but it is winter and we’re in Montblanc’s booth at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie Genève (SIHH). No matter.

Right from our introduction I know this is going to be an encounter I will be replaying in my head for years to come. “Oh, I know who you are,” I say with a nervous laugh as he introduces himself and asks my name. He then goes on to ask how I am, and our conversation soon leads to us talking about our children. As he animatedly tells me how his 13-year-old daughter, Ava, finds it “not cool” that her classmates now recognise “dad to be that guy from The Greatest Showman,” I pinch myself to make sure I’m not imagining all this. But, yes, the 50-year-old actor, much taller and leaner than I’d expected, is sitting just a few feet away and we are chatting like old friends.