News | Entertainment
3 Jul 2025 6:05
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness always make sure to honour their children’s cultural differences

    The couple adopted Oscar, now 20, and Ava, now 15, when they were children, and although their kids have a “separate lineage” to them, they always make sure to remind their brood of their heritage and ancestry


    Deborra-Lee said: "It's so interesting being a parent, and they've both made me smarter than I think I ever could have been on my own. But when you're a parent, you can't lie to them or yourself. They will shine a light on every one of your flaws, your Achilles heel, whatever. You've got to look at yourself.

    “What I'm very interested in is epigenetics, and it's even more so when you have adopted children because I'm coming from my lineage of my mother, how she parented me, how her mother parented her, and I'm translating that to my children. But my children also have a separate lineage. So it's almost like we have more players at the table.

    "We've got cultural differences in there, and I do believe these will play out generation after generation. So our family is just a little more late, I guess, at dinner time; a few more ancestors at the table.”

    The 64-year-old actress, producer, and director “completely embraces” her children’s differences, and even helped her son discover more about his Bosnian ancestry, as well as visiting Mexico with her daughter.

    She added: "When my son was younger, he found out he was part Bosnian, so we went and got this Croatian/Bosnian cookbook and he was very proud to carry that around when he was seven years old. My daughter has a Mexican lineage, so we've been to Mexico.

    “We completely embrace the ancestors and the extended family; they're family to us. And it's in there, even though it's generational. It may be subtle, but it's in there.”

    And Deborra-Lee says she and her husband Hugh - whom she married in 1996 - wouldn’t change their blended family for the world, as having different backgrounds to explore has made life “more exciting” for them.

    She told People magazine: "So it opens me up to be more open to, 'Ah, look at that probability,' because so many times, if it's a birth family, you'll have the same dislike - you both don't like mayonnaise or something. You’ll have that, but we have other different spices in there, so it can make it more challenging and it can make it more exciting."

    © 2025 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     02 Jul: Sir Rod Stewart came close to cancelling his Glastonbury performance
     02 Jul: Teddy Swims has become a dad
     02 Jul: Charlize Theron is on the celebrity dating app Raya - but it hasn't helped her to find love
     02 Jul: The Comeback has been renewed for a third season
     02 Jul: Jeremy Allen White has felt the "pressure" of playing Bruce Springsteen in Deliver Me From Nowhere
     02 Jul: Ryan Reynolds doesn't pay attention to his online critics
     02 Jul: Jax Taylor still sleeps at Brittany Cartwright's house
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    The Maori All Blacks are making some strategic adjustments as they prepare to host Scotland in Whangarei on Saturday More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Prices for top-end butter are through the roof, with little recourse for shoppers More...



     Today's News

    Law and Order:
    Investigations - into the discovery of a newborn baby's body in a wheelie bin in central Auckland - continue 5:57

    Environment:
    Parts of the country are waking up to the second bout of heavy rain in a week 5:37

    Law and Order:
    Police have charged 12 more people - over a large dangerous boy racer meet in Levin, over King's Birthday weekend 21:57

    Entertainment:
    Sir Rod Stewart came close to cancelling his Glastonbury performance 21:36

    Rugby:
    The Maori All Blacks are making some strategic adjustments as they prepare to host Scotland in Whangarei on Saturday 21:17

    International:
    Dalai Lama confirms his tradition will continue, ending doubts he could be the last 21:07

    Entertainment:
    Teddy Swims has become a dad 21:06

    Entertainment:
    Charlize Theron is on the celebrity dating app Raya - but it hasn't helped her to find love 20:36

    Entertainment:
    The Comeback has been renewed for a third season 20:06

    Environment:
    Understanding rainfall forecasts as southern NSW cops a drenching 19:47


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2025 New Zealand City Ltd