Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster’s blossoming romance has made headlines once again after the Wolverine actor’s ex-wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, filed for divorce amid their ongoing separation.
The theater stars met while performing in the 2022 Broadway revival of The Music Man, and remained close friends until they publicly debuted their relationship in January 2025.
Shining bright
© Getty ImagesSutton is a Tony Award-winning Broadway actress, having established herself as a star thanks to scene-stealing performances in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Anything Goes, Shrek the Musical, and more recently, Once Upon a Mattress.
While many of Hugh’s fans have been wondering what Sutton is really like behind the scenes, her Once Upon a Mattress co-star Michael Urie shone some light on the matter in an exclusive interview with HELLO! at the Drama Desk Awards, and shared insight into their new relationship.
“[Hugh] came to see the show in LA, and he came to New York too. He’s so cool,” Michael revealed to HELLO! ” I think they’re happy and that’s great.”
© Getty ImagesHe added that working with Sutton was “a dream“, and that she had a stage presence like no other. “When I’m onstage with her, she’s more alive than a regular human being. There’s something more going on,” he said.
“In real life, she’s very alive and animated and sweet and wonderful. She has to give so much onstage that she does sometimes reserve. I think I didn’t know that she was a supernova. I’d seen her before onstage but I didn’t know that she emitted light.”
The 50-year-old is a legend of the stage, having nabbed two Tony Awards amongst seven nominations in her decades-long career. Michael shared that he had learned “everything” from the star throughout their show’s Broadway run.
© Bruce Glikas/WireImage“[I learned] how to reinvent, how to play, how to make things different, but yet stay in the same play, in the same show,” the 44-year-old recalled.
“How to work a crowd. I mean, the way she works a crowd is stunning. She has them in the palm of her hand. Leadership, tenacity, keeping it going for so long. We did it for months and months. Yeah, I love her more than anything.”
He added that she “elevated me so much to a place I never imagined I could get in a musical, and I love her so much.”
The ultimate betrayal
© Getty ImagesMichael’s comments come just days after Deborra-Lee released a statement to the Daily Mail detailing the “betrayal” she experienced amid their almost two-year separation.
“My heart and compassion goes out to everyone who has traversed the traumatic journey of betrayal,” she said. “It’s a profound wound that cuts deep, however, I believe in a higher power and that God/the universe, whatever you relate to as your guidance, is always working FOR us.”
The actress continued: “This belief has helped me navigate the breakdown of an almost three-decade marriage.”
© Getty Images“Even when we are presented with apparent adversity, it is leading us to our greatest good, our true purpose. It can hurt, but in the long run, returning to yourself and living within your own integrity, values and boundaries is liberation and freedom.”
The 69-year-old shared that the “one thing” she has learned from her divorce journey is “that none of this is personal,” adding that some people serve as guides “in order to learn our lessons and to recognize and heal the broken parts of ourselves.”
“I am grateful,” she concluded. Hugh and Deborra-Lee were married for 27 years after meeting on the set of Corelli in 1995. They share two children: Oscar, 24, and Ava, 19.
To learn more about Hugh’s dating history, watch below…
