Perhaps that is where the rumors began about Hugh Jackman and his Broadway co-star Sutton Foster having a secret romance behind the scenes while each were married to other people.
Foster herself admitted in a 2022 interview that she and Jackman, 56, developed a really close bond after they appeared together in a Broadway revival of “The Music Man.” reported the New York Post. During the show's run from late 2021 to early 2023, additionally they began a pre-performance ritual that took place after they were alone of their dressing room.
“We call it carpet chat,” Foster, 49, revealed during an appearance on “Live with Kelly and Ryan.”
“We hang out in my dressing room before every show and just talk,” Foster continued. “Somehow we ended up sitting…maybe because my dressing room is a mess, we're sitting on the carpet.”
“It’s such a wonderful thing,” Foster also said. “We have become really good friends and just chat and discuss the day. The best part of the whole thing was that I found this wonderful new friend.”
According to multiple reports, Foster and Jackman became greater than just friends. They reportedly “fell in love,” which led to Jackman's ex-wife Deborra-Lee Furness developing “suspicions” a few collaboration between them, the Daily Mail reported earlier this week. This report from the Daily Mail and other media outlets suggests that Jackman and Foster's romance began in the ultimate years of his 27-year marriage to Furness.
Jackman and Furness announced their separation in October 2023, nine months after The Music Man closed. Meanwhile, speculation has reportedly been rife in New York theater circles that Jackman is in love together with his co-star. That speculation spread to the tabloids last week when Page Six and other media outlets revealed that the Tony Award-winning Foster had filed for divorce from screenwriter Ted Griffin after ten years of marriage – “amid rumors” that she was now with Jackman is together.
It has since been reported that Jackman and Foster are “100% together” and plan to spend “the rest of their lives together.” But this news probably doesn't come as a surprise to the individuals who worked with them on the show.
In the classic musical, Jackman played con artist Prof. Harold Hill, who involves a small town to perform his latest scam but becomes fascinated by the residents, particularly librarian Marian Paroo. He and Marian fall in love and he’s redeemed by this love because the two sing to one another: “There was love everywhere/But I never heard it sing/No, I didn't hear it at all/Until you were there.”
Jackman and Foster performed this love story in greater than 300 performances, in accordance with the Internet Broadway Database. Sources told In Touch that Foster couldn't resist the charms of the handsome, famously fit, 6-foot-2 Australian actor. A source told In Touch that she is “absolutely giddy” around him. He, however, “was smitten with Sutton from the moment he met her. He followed her like a puppy!”
In hindsight, their mutual appreciation was clear to see as they appeared on red carpets together or did interviews together to advertise the show.
During an appearance on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” in 2022, they each gushed about how “intimidated” they were by one another before they got “close.” The New York Post also reported.
“You're Hugh Jackman!” Foster shouted on Seth Meyers' show after the “Wolverine” star questioned whether she can be intimidated by him. He, in turn, talked about her achievements and said that she is a six-time Tony nominee and two-time winner.
“For example, I saw her do 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' when you were about four years old,” Jackman joked, turning to his co-star. He was referring to her Tony win in 2002 for the lead role in Thoroughly Modern Millie, when she was actually in her 20s.
“I watched everything she did,” Jackman continued. “It's amazing.”
Now that Foster has filed for divorce, she and Jackman are presumably free to go public with their romance. But until that happens, they like to maintain things private, a source told Page Six. “They spend all their free time together,” the source said. “They’re a normal couple, they’re just private.”
Originally published:
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