Hugh Jackman ‘I'm Hopeful About Our Future'

Locked down in new york, the aussie legend is optimistic about life after the pandemic

People would be asking, ‘What are you doing next?’ and before all of this happened, I’d already said, ‘I think I’m going to take six months off’,” Hugh Jackman tells WHO from his home in New York, which has been one of the worst cities hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’m going on Broadway for 15 months at least, and did my world tour last year and spent a lot more time than usual away from home, so I’d already planned for this time to be quiet. And now I have no choice!”

Jackman and his family, wife Deborra-Lee Furness and their children, 19-year-old Oscar and 14-year-old Ava, are among the millions self-isolating in the usually bustling Big Apple, which the Australian actor likens to “a post-apocalyptic movie”.

“New York is quite tranquil and bizarrely empty … but people are talking and interacting,” Jackman says. “We walk our dogs and there are some people that I’m talking to now that I’ve seen around for 10 years, but had never spoken to! People seem to have more time, and the optimist in me hopes that’ll continue, and there’ll be a shared sense of community that will come out of it when it’s over.”