Hugh Jackman has endured a rocky relationship with his mother in the past, after she divorced his father and moved to the UK; this might explain the close friendship he shares with Ryan Reynolds’ mother, for whom he wrote a sweet birthday tribute on Tuesday.
The Australian native, who starred alongside Ryan in the hit movie Deadpool & Wolverine, posted a carousel of photos of the Canadian’s mom, Tammy, alongside a hilarious caption.
“Happy Birthday to the one and only Tam Tam!” Hugh wrote. “Patrick, Terry, Jeff, and I love you so much.”
“And, of course, your emergency stand-in son, Ray. Rolf…? Ryan?” he joked before the man himself commented below, “Blasphemer!”
The sweet snaps included Hugh and Tammy smiling together, obviously sharing a close relationship thanks to his friendship with the Deadpool star.
Hugh’s birthday tribute to his co-star’s mother comes as he has endured a “traumatic” relationship with his own mom, Grace McNeil.
© InstagramWhen he was eight years old, Grace divorced his father, Christopher, before moving to the UK; his sisters Zoe and Sonya moved to live with her when they were in their teens.
Hugh and his brothers Ian and Ralph remained behind in Sydney and saw his mother “once a year”, as he told Who Magazine in 2018.
Both of his parents had emigrated from the UK in the 1960s as Ten Pound Poms.
© Bruce Glikas“It was traumatic,” he recalled of his mother leaving. “I thought she was probably going to come back. And then it sort of dragged on and on.”
He added that he realized at “12 or 13” that she would not be returning.
Speaking to 60 Minutes in 2012, he remembered the exact moment that Grace left him.
© Bruce Glikas“I remember her being in a towel around her head and saying goodbye. [It] must have been the way she said goodbye,” he said. “As I went off to school, when I came back, there was no one there in the house.”
“The next day, there was a telegram from England,“ he added. “Mum was there. And then that was it. Dad used to pray every night that Mum would come back.”
Despite leaving Australia, she would return to see her children every year. “She would come over. It would be like a family holiday,“ Hugh told The Telegraph.
© Instagram“I remember going to the beach. There was a chance of a reconciliation at that point, but she didn’t come back for good.“
In the years since, Hugh and his mother have reconciled and enjoy a close relationship. In August 2021, he posted a sweet snap of the pair hugging and smiling at each other. “Mum,“ he simply captioned the photo.
In an interview with The Sun in 2011, he revealed how close they became. “I am 43 now, and we have definitely made our peace, which is important,” he said.
“I was always quite connected with my mum. I have a good relationship with her.“
