When Deborra-Lee Furness finally broke her silence about the end of her 27-year marriage to Hugh Jackman, one word stood out above all others: betrayal. She described the period as a traumatic journey and spoke about a wound that cuts deeply, language far removed from the carefully controlled statement the couple released when they announced their separation in September 2023. That original announcement was calm and respectful, describing the decision as a change in their journey and a desire to pursue individual growth, giving the public no clear picture of what had happened privately. Furness stayed quiet for nearly two years after the split.
She did not criticize Jackman publicly, did not discuss reports surrounding the breakup, and avoided giving detailed interviews. In May 2024, when asked what the previous year had taught her, she simply said she had learned she was strong and resilient. That restraint made her later choice of the word betrayal particularly significant, because it suggested she experienced the end of the marriage as something deeply painful rather than as a simple mutual decision to grow apart. The public timeline that followed the separation gave new context to how people viewed the marriage.
Jackman and Sutton Foster first worked closely together on the Broadway revival of The Music Man, which opened in February 2022 after pandemic-related delays. Jackman played Harold Hill and Foster played Marian Paroo. The production required constant rehearsals, night-after-night performances, and joint press appearances, creating an intense working relationship. During that period, Foster spoke warmly about the time she and Jackman spent talking before going on stage, and Jackman regularly praised her in interviews and on social media.
Just months before the separation announcement, the couple still appeared united. In April 2023, Jackman publicly celebrated his anniversary with Furness. In May, they appeared together at the Met Gala. Then, on September 15th, 2023, they announced they were separating after 27 years of marriage.
The timing of the Music Man connection became a major focus of public attention, though nothing at that point had been confirmed about the nature of Jackman and Foster’s relationship during the marriage. Foster filed for divorce from her husband, screenwriter Ted Griffin, in October 2024 after nearly ten years of marriage. By early 2025, Jackman and Foster were photographed together publicly, including images of them holding hands, making it increasingly difficult to describe their relationship as a simple friendship. Reports later claimed Jackman had proposed to Foster during a New Year’s vacation in Costa Rica.
The legal side of Jackman and Furness’s divorce moved quickly once it began. Furness filed in New York on May 23rd, 2025, with paperwork indicating the terms had already been worked out. The divorce was granted with a judgment dated June 3rd. The financial picture was more complicated than the speed of the legal process suggested.
The couple had built significant wealth over nearly three decades, much of it from Jackman’s role as Wolverine in the X-Men franchise, along with other films, Broadway productions, endorsements, and business ventures. They also owned valuable properties in New York, the Hamptons, and Australia. Reports said their former Manhattan penthouse was being marketed for tens of millions of dollars after being acquired years earlier. Entertainment reports placed their combined wealth at roughly 250 million to 387 million dollars, though those figures are estimates and the exact terms of the financial settlement have not been made fully public.
Some reports claimed Furness received a substantial spousal support arrangement and was satisfied with the settlement, but the complete agreement has not been disclosed. Before she became known primarily as Hugh Jackman’s wife, Furness had already built a respected career of her own. She trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and appeared on Falcon Crest before returning to Australia. Her performance in the 1988 film Shame earned her Best Actress from the Australian Film Critics Circle.
By 1995, when she was cast in the television series Corelli, she was an established performer. Jackman was 25 and had just graduated from drama school. It was his first professional acting job. Furness was 38 and initially worried about their 13-year age difference, though Jackman reportedly did not see it as a problem.
They married on April 11th, 1996, at St. John’s Church in Toorak, Melbourne. Jackman was 27 and Furness was 40. Over the following years, his career transformed dramatically as Wolverine made him one of the most recognizable stars in the world.
Their journey toward parenthood was difficult. They tried to have biological children, went through IVF, and experienced miscarriages. They eventually adopted their son Oscar in 2000 and their daughter Ava in 2005. Furness became a strong advocate for adoption reform in Australia, working to change the system and reduce stigma around adoption.
For decades, Jackman publicly presented his marriage as one of the most important parts of his life. He repeatedly credited Furness with supporting him from the beginning of his career and keeping him grounded. On their 25th wedding anniversary in 2021, he posted wedding photographs with an emotional message describing his love as something that had grown stronger with time. Those declarations made the eventual separation difficult for many people to reconcile with his earlier words, and the reports about his relationship with Foster caused people to look back at the timeline with new questions: whether his feelings had changed, whether problems existed privately while he spoke positively in public, and what Furness knew and when she knew it.
Reports have suggested that Furness has considered writing a memoir about her marriage, divorce, and life afterward, with some sources claiming she kept detailed personal notes during the separation. The existence and contents of such a diary have not been fully established publicly, and reports about a potential memoir have come from sources rather than from a published book or confirmation by Furness herself. If she does write one, she could provide a detailed account that would significantly change the public’s understanding of the marriage, including how they met, the difficulty of their path to parenthood, what life was like during Jackman’s rise to international fame, and what she knew about the period surrounding the Music Man.
