Hugh Jackman almost gave up his dream after his brother called him a sissy

Hugh Jackman’s older brother called him a “sissy” when he heard he wanted to be dancer.

The actor is best known for playing Wolverine in the hit X-Men movies, but before landing the Marvel comics role, Jackman was first recognised as a musical performer in the stage adaptation of Oklahoma.

And since his breakout roles, he has defied masculine stereotypes by starring in the movie musical adaptation of Les Misérables and now most recently in The Greatest Showman.

Jackman has however revealed that his dream to be a dancer nearly never materialized after a comment made by his brother.

In a recent Q&A for the DVD release of his latest movie, Jackman was asked whether he felt like an outsider growing up and he said: “Most of my teenage years. It’s my anti-Billy Elliot story. When I was 11, a teacher told me that I had talent as a dancer and that I should go and get lessons. I told my dad and he said, ‘Great’. Then my brother overheard me and he goes, ‘Oh, you sissy’.

“I was young and I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He goes, ‘Dancing is only for sissies’. I thought, ‘I am not a sissy’, so I didn’t dance.”

However, his brother eventually apologised when Jackman was 18 after they went to see 42nd Street on stage.

“Then, when I was 18, I went to see 42nd Street with that same brother and my dad,” he continued. “And my brother pulled me over during the interval and said, ‘I said something really stupid to you years ago. You belong upon the stage.’ So really, for fear of being an outsider or of being judged, I didn’t dance for seven years.

“And the day after he said that, I went and applied. I think it is something that applies to everyone in some way, shape or form. We somehow like music that no one else likes or there will be something that we wear or eat or do that other people think is really uncool, and we call it a guilty pleasure.

“Why is it guilty? It is just a pleasure.”