Actor Hugh Jackman spoke about changing ideas of masculinity and how he journals every day to address his own “stunted” emotions during an interview with Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Radhika Jones at Condé Nast’s New York office Thursday morning. The 53-year-old X-Men star and Australia native said he’s happy to see traditional attitudes toward masculinity evolving—both within the entertainment industry and beyond.
“A lot of what I grew up with in Australia, a very patriarchal society, is being entirely challenged and broken down daily: This whole idea, when I was growing up, that somehow girls became women but you had to make boys into men—had to push them, challenge them,” Jackman said.
He added that, as a child, he thought feeling fear was somehow off limits to him: “I was actually quite a scared kid. I remember being scared a lot, but you weren’t allowed to be scared.” Now, however, he sees a reversal of that mentality in society, and within himself. “Men are being encouraged to be empathetic, to understand your feelings, to have a vocabulary around feeling,” he said.
For Jackman, a specific journaling practice recommended by his therapist has proved an invaluable tool in thinking about these emotions. “I, in the last year, started a journal that starts with two words: ‘I feel.’ It was a bit of homework, and I sort of went, Journaling, ugh. And now, every morning I do it, obsessively, because I realized how stunted I was.” Jackman said the habit brought to light how confused he felt about his own emotions. “I would write ‘confused’ a lot, and my therapist said, ‘Confused: that’s a red flag. Confused just means there’s more than one thing you’re feeling. Just list what the things are.’ I realized how stunted I was around that.”
Jackman also said that, in addition to journaling, he’s started being more open with his children about his emotions. “In the last year, I’ve changed the way I talk to them. Prior to a year ago, I thought my job was to keep fear away from them—don’t burden them with your worries,” he said of his 17- and 22-year-old kids. “Now I’m literally the opposite, and they love it,” he went on. “I don’t try to indulge myself with them, but I just let them know they’re not the only ones [who are worried]. I’m 53, I’ve done a lot of things, and I still feel all those things.”
The fact that cultural ideas around masculinity—and the way men express their feelings and emotions—are shifting gives Jackman hope: “I think it’s changing so much for the better, and I think it’s a fantastic thing.”
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