Nicole Kidman, in her own words, ‘owes’ her Hollywood career to her close friends Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness —So, who will the star owe loyalty to in their separation?
After weeks of speculation, Jackman, 56, finally confirmed that he is now dating his former Broadway co-star Sutton Foster, 46, in two PDA-filled outings.
He and Furness, 69, were married for 27 years before announcing their shock separation in 2023 to “pursue our individual growth.”
Insiders say their split could become “confusing” as the now-estranged couple struggles to split their estimated $250 million fortune without a prenuptial agreement.
While Kidman, 57, counts Jackman and Furness among her best friends, an inside source told New Idea that she’s particularly “worried” about her.
“Nicole knows Hugh is going to be fine — he has the best team of handlers in Hollywood and he’s in the middle of his new romance,” the source told the publication.
Nicole Kidman, 57, is said to be particularly “worried” about Deborra-Lee Furness following her split from Hugh Jackman. The couple appears in the photo in 2013.
Kidman, in her own words, said she “owes” her Hollywood career to her close friends Jackman and Furness. Pictured in 2013 with the actress’s husband, Keith Urban.
Kidman and Jackman starred together in Baz Luhrmann’s Australia and have supported each other behind the scenes for decades. Photographed together at the international AACTAs in 2018.
“He doesn’t need her right now, so for Nicole, the focus is on Deb and she’s worried about her more than anything else.”
Kidman and Jackman starred together in Baz Luhrmann’s Australia and have supported each other behind the scenes for decades.
Furness was the first to meet Kidman when she was ‘couch surfing’ in Los Angeles as a teenager before being cast in Days of Thunder, where she met Tom Cruise.
“(I slept on the couch) in the house that Deborra-Lee was renting, and she gave me the opportunity to stay there and we were able to go audition,” Kidman told the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia in a recorded interview.
“It was expensive, we couldn’t afford hotels, so the idea of being together in the center of a house was really, I mean, my God.”
She added: “You’d go back and forth and go away for a few weeks and do some auditions and hope you made it.”
“(Deborra-Lee) was one of my best friends,” the Big Little Lies star said, adding that the actress always gave her a place to stay when she flew from Australia.
The Nine Perfect Strangers star previously revealed how Furness and Jackman helped her after her divorce from Cruise in 2001.
Furness and Jackman were married for 27 years.
“Nicole knows Hugh is going to be fine — he has the best team of handlers in Hollywood and he’s in the middle of his new romance,” the source told the publication. Kidman and Jackman photographed in the film Australia
“When I got divorced, Hugh and Deb were a big part of my healing,” she said in a candid interview with Australian Women’s Weekly.
“They were some of my best friends during that period,” he added.
Like Kidman, Jackman and Furness were part of a small group of budding Australian actors living in Hollywood in the 1980s.
‘I remember Tom Cruise calling the house when he got the role (in Days of Thunder). “Nic was always very calm and took everything in her stride,” Furness said.
After splitting from the Mission: Impossible star, Kidman met her second husband, Keith Urban.
The source adds that Kidman is “determined to help her (Deb) get through what is truly an emotionally traumatic time,” adding that she’s ready to hop on a flight and be by Deb’s side “any time.”
“Deb gets tough, but losing Hugh to a younger actress is her worst nightmare come true,” the source said, adding that Furness “hopes” Kidman will also continue to support Jackman.
While this will be difficult for the Babygirl actress, she has handled her friends’ high-profile breakups before and has maintained relationships with the likes of Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber.
“(Deborra-Lee) was one of my best friends,” Nicole said. “(I slept on the couch) at the house Deborra-Lee was renting, and she gave me the opportunity to stay there and we were able to go audition,” Nicole said. In the photo together
Jackman’s new love for Foster has added to the growing tension between The Greatest Showman star and Furness, who had struggled with “resentment and power imbalance” towards the end of their three-decade marriage.
They were reportedly working on filing for divorce before Christmas, but were thwarted by the holidays and Jackman’s second role in The Music Man alongside his new love interest.
They now plan to file in New York “in the next two weeks.”
“One of the main reasons they haven’t applied yet is because they never had a prenup,” a source close to Jackman told DailyMail.com exclusively.
‘When they got married, they thought it would be forever. Who doesn’t? At the time, neither of them expected Hugh’s career to be as huge as it has become.
‘Because there was no prenuptial agreement and he made a fortune during their marriage, this divorce is not going to be easy. It can even be complicated because the stakes are so high.
‘There are a lot of moving parts that need to be resolved and there is a huge amount of money involved.
The source insisted that they both want to “make this as easy as possible,” but that after three decades and one partner becoming a big A-list star, “it’s not that easy.”
Furness and Jackman met in 1995 on the Australian TV show Correlli, when she was a major star and he was enjoying his first role fresh out of drama school.
He proposed four months later, telling Today in 2018 that two weeks after meeting Furness, he knew they were “going to be together for the rest of our lives.”
They married in Melbourne, Australia, in April 1996 before adopting son Oscar, now 24, in 2000. Five years later they completed their family unit when they adopted daughter Ava, 19.
Since getting married, Jackman has amassed a dazzling fortune, estimated at around $200 million, thanks to his role as Wolverine in the hit Marvel comic book franchise.
They currently own a 2.5-acre, $3.5 million property in East Hampton, New York, which they reportedly rent for $166,666 a month, a $5.9 million Bondi Beach house in Sydney, Australia, and a $21 million penthouse in Manhattan’s affluent Chelsea neighborhood, which they bought a year before separating.
The division of assets is also complicated by the fact that the two are “no longer friends.”
“Hugh and Deborra-Lee are cordial to each other, but they are no longer friends,” the source said. “They put aside their differences to be co-parents and he cares a lot about his children.”