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Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster Step Out Hand-in-Hand and Confirm Romance
Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster’s relationship status is taking center stage.
After sparking romance rumors, the X-Men star, 56, and the Younger actress, 49, appeared to confirm they're dating by strolling hand in hand through Santa Monica, Calif., on Jan. 6.
Just the day before, Jackman attended the final show of the Foster-led musical Once Upon a Mattress in Los Angeles, as seen in photos shared on social media. He was spotted sitting in the Ahmanson Theatre alongside Carol Burnett, who played Foster’s character Princess Winnifred in the original Broadway production.
The sighting comes less than three months after Foster filed for divorce from her husband of 10 years Ted Griffin, with whom she shares 7-year-old daughter Emily. The year prior, Jackman announced the end of his 27-year marriage to Deborra Lee-Furness, mom to his kids Oscar, 24, and Ava, 19.
"We have been blessed to share almost 3 decades together as husband and wife in a wonderful, loving marriage,” the Correlli costars said in part of a statement to People in September 2023. “Our journey now is shifting and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth.”
In the musical, Jackman played salesman Harold Hill—who works to con the citizens of River City, Iowa, into forming a boys’ marching band so he can make money on the instruments and uniforms but ends up falling in love with Foster’s character, librarian Marian Paroo.
While the costars have admitted they were initially intimidated to work with each other (considering Foster’s seven Tony nominations and Jackman’s role as Wolverine in the popular X-Men franchise), they’ve spoken about how they formed a friendship.
“I just sort of see this guy,” she told Broadway.com in May 2022, noting she’d sometimes forget his level of fame. “I think one of his superpowers is that he’s so disarming. He immediately puts everyone at ease. He doesn’t make anything about him. He’s so incredibly generous to everyone around him. So you’re just like, ‘Oh, OK.’ The greatest thing that’s happened out of this whole experience is that I have a new friend who happens to be Hugh Jackman, which is super weird.”
However, the two had actually met decades before working on The Music Man. To look back at their history, keep reading.
Jim Spellman/WireImage, Sylvain Gaboury/FilmMagic
2002
Two decades before Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster starred alongside each other in The Music Man, he went to see her perform in Thoroughly Modern Millie—the musical for which she won her first Tony Award.
"I have photo evidence," the actress recalled to Broadway.com in May 2022 about her early interaction with the Oscar nominee, who was delivering his own Tony-winning performance in The Boy From Oz at the time, "and we’ve met several times. But we had never really officially worked together."
Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic
2008
And when Foster played Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical, Jackman came to the show. The two snapped a photo backstage with her costars John Tartaglia and Christopher Sieber.
Heather Wines/CBS via Getty Images
2014
Jackman and Foster waltzed into each other's lives again at the 2014 Tony Awards, where he served as host and danced with her and her fellow nominees in the Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical category.
Sharing a photo of that moment to Instagram the day after the ceremony, Foster wrote in the caption, "This happened."
James Devaney/GC Images
2017
While Foster didn't appear in Jackman's 2017 film The Greatest Showman, she revealed she briefly did some work for the movie.
"I did a couple workshops of Greatest Showman with him," the Younger alum added to Broadway.com. "So I met him then, but only for a couple days here and there."
Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic
2019
In March 2019, it was announced that Jackman would be taking on the lead role of Harold Hill in The Music Man. Later that month, he revealed that Foster would be joining the cast by sharing a throwback photo of them at the 2014 Tonys and writing on social media, "For our next dance ... Sutton Foster is #Marian."
Instagram / Hugh Jackman
2020
The X-Men star and the Bunheads celeb had their first workshop for The Music Man in March 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused Broadway theaters to close their doors and the show opening was postponed.
Instagram / Sutton Foster
2021
In October 2021, Jackman announced the first day of rehearsals for The Music Man. Foster also posted a video of the costars during week three of getting ready for the show, and Jackman shared a clip of their dance practice that December.
"There are hundreds who’ve made this moment happen," the 56-year-old wrote on Instagram at the time. "But there’s one in particular I pay tribute to - @suttonlenore, this show is nothing without you. You’re an exceptional talent and friend. Your joy brings the entire company of @musicmanbway to life. I can’t wait for the world to see you as “Marian”. They are in for an explosion of awesome."
Noam Galai/WireImage
2022
In February 2022, The Music Man hosted its opening night and Jackman and Foster posed for pictures together on the red carpet.
"This man," she wrote on Instagram the day after the show's official opening. "An honor to be by your side. You. Are. The. BEST."
While Foster and Jackman have admitted they were initially intimidated to work together, she noted they ended up forming a friendship.
"He has an impeccable reputation of being the hardest working man, incredibly kind, and generous—and all of that is true," the 49-year-old told Vogue in June 2022. "He disarms everyone, and he doesn’t make anything about him. And he’s now become one of my best friends, which was a surprise, because you usually go into these things thinking, Well, I hope we get along. But we just spent Memorial Day with our families. It’s really fun to meet new friends after 40."
In fact, Foster said her daughter Emily—whom she adopted in 2017 with now-ex Ted Griffin—even called Jackman "Uncle Hugh."
"She was like, ‘Is Uncle Hugh coming?’ or whatever," she told Broadway.com in May 2022. "And I’m like, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ He’s just part of the family."
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Jackman and Foster continued to celebrate the show's success. In May 2022, they attended the 2022 Drama League Awards, where he received the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre honor and she won the Distinguished Performance Award. Jackman even announced her win to the crowd at the end of one of their shows.
"@thehughjackman is a gem," Foster wrote on Instagram May 21. "Here he is, stopping the curtain call at @musicmanbway last night to make a special announcement because he had 'something very special' to tell everyone."
The following month, the duo attended the 2022 Tony Awards, where The Music Man received six nominations.
Kevin Mazur/WireImage
2023
The Music Man's final curtain call was in January 2023. But it wasn't the only thing to come to an end. In September of that year, Jackman and his wife of 27 years Deborra-Lee Furness announced their split.
"We have been blessed to share almost 3 decades together as husband and wife in a wonderful, loving marriage," the Corelli costars said in a joint statement to People Sept. 15, 2023. "Our journey now is shifting and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth."
Jackman and Furness share two adult children: Oscar and Ava.
"Our family has been and always will be our highest priority," the former couple continued. "We undertake this next chapter with gratitude, love, and kindness. We greatly appreciate your understanding in respecting our privacy as our family navigates this transition in all of our lives."
Jackman and Furness added, "This is the sole statement either of us will make."
Still, they appeared to remain on good terms, with his rep confirming to Page Six the two celebrated Jackman's 55th birthday at Polo Bar in New York that October and "it was a lovely evening."
Furness also reflected on what she learned about herself over that past year.
“[I learned] that I'm strong and resilient,” the actress told People in May 2024. “And that I—we are all a constant evolution.”
Bruce Glikas/Getty Images
2024
In October 2024, Foster filed for divorce from her husband of 10 years.
Bruce Glikas/Getty Images
2025
After sparking dating rumors, Jackman and Foster appeared to confirm their romance by stepping out hand in hand in Santa Monica, Calif., on Jan. 6 (see the photos here).
The sighting came two days after Jackman was seen attending Foster's performance of Once Upon a Mattress in L.A., per photos obtained by Deux Moi.
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