Hugh Jackman may be a talented actor and heartthrob for many, but his fame and fortune won’t be going to his head if his daughter Ava has anything to do with it.
The 43-year-old Australian actor, whose 16-year career has seen him go from Aussie TV, to London’s West End and on to Broadway and Hollywood, has in recent years hosted the Oscars and been named the ‘sexiest man alive” by People magazine.
But six-year-old Ava isn’t one to be won-over by past performance and it seems she can be relied on to speak her mind, with no sugar-coating in sight when asked for her honest opinion of her father’s performance in his current Broadway show Hugh Jackman Back On Broadway.
Speaking on US talk show Anderson Hugh revealed, “About a week ago [my kids] came on a Sunday matinee. I said, ‘Guys, look, you can be honest with me. Do you like the show?'”
“My [11-year-old] son Oscar says, ‘I really like it.’ I was touched. My daughter said, ‘I find it a little boring.'”
Not only that, but Ava also appeared mortified of her dad’s performance, opting for the safe cover of hiding under the seat when he came into the audience to serenade her mum, Deborah-Lee Furness.
“My daughter, oh, my God. I sing a song for my wife in the show and sometimes I go out to the crowd,” he explains. “My daughter literally hides under the seat in front. She dies.”
Talking about what’s he’s like as a parent, the Real Steel actor admitted he is “more the strict one”, probably due to his own regimented upbringing as one of five kids, a stark contrast to Deborah-Lee’s easy-going only-child early years.
After consulting the advice of various parenting books, the couple avoided potential conflict in their parenting styles by embracing the rules of none other than Super Nanny to help them through the minefield of child discipline.
“I’m one of those parents, I read every book. My son came out and apparently he hadn’t read any of them, so we were really all at sea,” Jackman reveals. “Then we found that show and, I tell you, our daughter has a much easier ride.”
But it doesn’t look like Ava is about to give her dad an easy ride when it comes to being his critic!
Related Video: Watch Hugh talking about Ava.
