Hugh Jackman uses daily meditation to stay "present" and "more able to connect to people"

He told People at the David Lynch Foundation's Meditate America Gala about how he had started meditating 31 years ago when he was a "younger acting student": "I thought it would really help me with my acting. That's why I sort of went and it did."

He added about its continuing positive impact on his life: "It helps you be more present, more creative, more energised, more able to connect to people.

"What I realised very quickly is it changed everything in my life into better: my relationships, my sense of who I am, my accountability with who I am - and literally, every aspect of my life changed."

Hugh stressed he tried not to sound as if he was into "converting" people to the benefits of meditation when he got evangelical about meditation.

He said: "I am one of those people (where if) there's something good in my life - could be good restaurant, a good walk, or a beautiful day - I do like to talk to people around me: 'You gotta check this out'.

"I do like to share this. So this is something very dear and important to me."

The actor, who split from his longtime actress wife Deborra-Lee Furness, 68, in September 2023, added he meditates every day at lunchtime when he is on the set of movies.

He added: "For me, having that reset at lunchtime - I'll go back in the afternoon, and I can watch people on set sometimes flagging a little bit - and I'm like, 'Let's get ready to go'.

"It's not just energy. It's the quality of the energy that makes you feel grounded, feel present, more creative, more able to be spontaneous."