Hugh Jackman ignored wife for a week

Hugh Jackman didn't talk to his wife for a week when they first met.

The 'Wolverine' star - who is celebrating his 19th anniversary with Deborra-Lee Furness this year - has admitted he was so embarrassed about having a "mad crush" on his 'Corelli' co-star that he refused to talk to her for a week in the hope his feelings would go away.

He said: "I was really embarrassed when I realised I had a mad crush on her, I didn't talk to her for a week. I was like, 'This is just humiliating.'

"I was like, young guy, first job, she's the star - everyone loved Deb. Literally the whole crew, producers; everyone was in love with her.

"I just didn't talk to her for about a week and she finally called me on it and said, 'What's the deal?' And I owned up - I said 'Listen, I've got a crush on you. It's embarrassing. I'll get over it.' And she went, 'Oh no.' And I was like dying and she said, 'I've got a crush on you too.' Done."

The 46-year-old actor - who has kids, Ava, nine and Oscar, 14 with the 59-year-old actress - admitted he fell for Deborra-Lee when they had weekend rehearsals for their TV series 'Corelli' at her home.

Speaking on 'Live! With Kelly and Michael', he shared: "We met on a TV series called 'Corelli' that about 11 people saw but the best thing that came out of it was, I met my wife. She was the star of the series...

"I liked Deb first. It was my first show and I was nervous so we became really fast friends; very quickly we worked together a lot and she used to say, 'Let's rehearse on weekends,' and I remember going round to her house on a Sunday to rehearse and I was like, 'I love this rehearsal.'

"I'm thinking all the time, 'I wanna kiss her. Is that appropriate?' I was mad about her."