Jackman is also known for his early theatre roles in the original Australian productions of Beauty and the Beast as Gaston in 1995 and Sunset Boulevard as Joe Gillis in 1996.

[25] On the night of his final Academy graduation performance, Jackman received a phone call offering him a role on Correlli: "I was technically unemployed for thirteen seconds."

Correlli, devised by Australian actress Denise Roberts, was a 10-part drama series on ABC, Jackman's first major professional job, and where he met his future wife Deborra-Lee Furness.

In 1996, Jackman played Gaston in the local Walt Disney production of Beauty and the Beast, and Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard.

Jackman became known outside Australia in 1998, when he played the leading role of Curly in the Royal National Theatre's acclaimed stage production of Oklahoma!, in London's West End.

Jackman had his breakthrough role playing Wolverine in Bryan Singer's X-Men (2000)—a superhero film based on the Marvel Comics team of the same name.

[35][36] Hence, the filmmakers were frequently forced to shoot Jackman at unusual angles or only from the waist up to make him appear shorter than he actually is, and his co-stars wore platform soles.

Jackman was also required to add a great deal of muscle for the role, and in preparing for the fourth film in the series, he bench-pressed over 136 kg (300 lb).

[11] Jackman plays a Victorian English duke who accidentally time-travels to 21st-century Manhattan, where he meets Kate (Meg Ryan), a cynical advertising executive.

In 2002, Jackman sang the role of Billy Bigelow in the musical Carousel in a special concert performance at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke's.

Jackman was asked to consider taking on the role of James Bond before Daniel Craig was chosen to play the character, but turned it down due to other commitments.

Speaking to the British Press Association in 2011, Jackman said: "I was about to shoot X-Men 2 and Wolverine had become this thing in my life and I didn't want to be doing two such iconic characters at once.

"[42] Alongside Christian Bale, Michael Caine, and Scarlett Johansson, Jackman starred in The Prestige (2006), a mystery thriller from Christopher Nolan.

Jackman portrayed Robert Angier, an aristocratic magician who builds up a rivalry with contemporary Alfred Borden (Bale) in an attempt to one-up each other in the art of deception.

[45][46] Jackman portrayed three different characters in Darren Aronofsky's science-fiction film The Fountain: Tommy Creo, a neuroscientist, who is torn between his wife, Izzi (Rachel Weisz), who is dying of a brain tumor, and his work at trying to cure her; Captain Tomas Creo, a Spanish conquistador in 1532 Seville; and a future astronaut, Tom, travelling to a golden nebula in an eco-spacecraft seeking to be reunited with Izzi.

He rounded out 2006 with two animated films: Happy Feet, directed by George Miller, in which he voiced the part of Memphis, an emperor penguin (singing "Heartbreak Hotel"); and Flushed Away, where Jackman supplied the voice of a rat named Roddy who ends up being flushed down a family's toilet into the London sewer system (Jackman's fourth film co-starring with Ian McKellen).

[citation needed] In 2007, Jackman produced and guest-starred in the television musical-dramedy series Viva Laughlin, which was cancelled by CBS after two episodes.

[citation needed] In 2008, director Baz Luhrmann cast Jackman to replace Russell Crowe as the male lead in his much-publicised epic film, Australia, which co-starred Nicole Kidman.

[49] Jackman co-starred with Daniel Craig on Broadway at the Schoenfeld Theatre in a limited engagement of the play A Steady Rain, which ran from 10 September 2009, to 6 December 2009.

[51] The production was a mixture of his favourite Broadway and Hollywood musical numbers, backed by a 17-piece orchestra, from shows including Oklahoma and The Boy from Oz.

[54] In a November 2012 release, Jackman voiced the role of E.Aster Bunnymund (the Easter Bunny) in the animated film Rise of the Guardians,[55] while his image was licensed to represent the Skulduggery Pleasant character Saracen Rue in the spin-off novel Tanith Low in...

He performed a range of songs from Broadway musicals, from Les Misérables to a Peter Allen tribute (including classics such as "I Still Call Australia Home"), with his 150-piece orchestra, choir, and backup dancers.

[95] Jackman hosted a preview of the Global Poverty Project Presentation in New York with Donna Karan, Lisa Fox, and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness.

Jackman founded the company after a trip to Ethiopia in 2009 for World Vision, where he met a fair trade coffee farmer named Dukale.

In a 2015 interview, he identified as Christian[119] but says his version of faith differs from his father's: "He takes his religion very seriously and would prefer I go to church," "We've had discussions about our separate beliefs.

[123] This resulted in Jackman attending the various worldwide premieres of X-Men: Days of Future Past with a bandage on his nose and urging his Instagram followers to wear sunscreen.

[130] In the United States, Jackman supports the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer, attending a match at PPL Park in June 2010.

[132] He is also a long-time fan and supporter of the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, a National Rugby League (NRL) club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches.

In 2001, Jackman's performance in the romantic fantasy film Kate & Leopold earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.

His hosting of the ceremony won him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program the year after.