Hugh Jackman: I'm Not Gay
Despite rumors to the contrary, Hugh Jackman is not gay.
"I'd be happy to go and deny it, because I'm not," he says in this Sunday's Parade magazine. "But by denying it, Im saying there is something shameful about it, and there isnt anything shameful."
Questions about the star's sexuality surfaced when he played gay Australian songwriter Peter Allen in Broadway's The Boy from Oz, for which he won a Tony award in 2004 and performed in his native Australia in 2006.
"The questions about sexuality I find more here in America than anywhere else, because its a big hang-up and defines what people think about themselves and others," the actor, 40, adds. "Its not a big issue in Australia."
Plus, Jackman -- who is best known for his role as the enraged mutant Wolverine in the X-Men franchise -- attests that he is happily married to his wife of 13 years, Deborra-Lee Furness.
"Shes the most honest person Ive ever met. The worst liar. Cant do it," he says of Deb, eight years his senior. "Everything she feels comes out. This is just the long way of saying shes not jealous of my success, no. Its not in her DNA. Every person Ive ever worked with has ended up liking Deb more than they like me."
He adds: "Im a little behind in the wit department, and shes always, Come on, Hugh, keep up! Keep up! She looks a lot like Kim Novak, but shes from the Ethel Merman school with her humor."
The couple have two multiracial children, Oscar, 8, and Ava, 3.
"Mixed-race babies have such a hard time being adopted that Deb and I checked off that box specifically when we were filling out our forms," he tells Parade. "Our lawyer brought the form back to us and said, This is not the time to be politically correct. Are you sure this is what you want? We were definite about it."
Does the star, who immerses himself in philosophy and meditation in addition to his family, have plans to adopt more?
"No!" Jackman says. "Wow. Thats the first time Ive ever said that so emphatically and on-the-record. For Deb and me, our family is the most important thing to us, but we travel so much that we fear if we have more kids, itll be too much."