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Hugh Jackman speaks candidly about losing his father

Hugh Jackman has spoken candidly about his last moments with his father before taking on a movie role that moved him to tears. The Wolverine actor lost sleep, had to see a psychiatrist and was writing in a journal to deal with the tragic loss but knew he had to keep shooting for The Son to not let his dad down. The Son tells the story of Peter - played by Jackman - a workaholic who struggles to take care of his partner, baby and teenage son. The plot struck a chord with Jackman who was abandoned by his mother at the age of 8 and then raised by his father. Moments before he shot his first scene as Peter, Jackman went to visit his father Christopher who had suffered from Alzheimer’s for 12 years. “He was nearing the end…So he was ostensibly gone, mentally. He would still smile a bit. I didn’t know he was going to physically pass away, but I knew it was kind of a goodbye,” Jackman told <a href="https://variety.com/2022/film/features/hugh-jackman-dad-death-the-son-wolverine-1235413831/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Variety</a>. Christopher Jackman passed away on Father’s Day in 2021 and his son knew what he had to do instead of grieving his loss. “My father never missed a day of work,” Jackman explained. “I could feel him. I knew if he could talk to me, he’d be like, ‘You got to go to work! What are you talking about?’ I felt his presence on the set.” Jackman never forgot his roots and would always have his father nearby when filming doing crosswords. The portrait of his father working on a crossword stays with Jackman which he says “really helped him”. “I had an image of him on set, standing behind the action. My father worked incredibly hard — looking after five kids, the weight of the world on his shoulders. I had the feeling of him being completely free. That really helped me.” The Son will hit cinemas on February 9 2023 in Australia and New Zealand. Image: Variety

Family & Pets

"Deep gratitude": Meghan Markle pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth

Meghan Markle has paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth, saying she feels "deep gratitude" for the time she got to spend with the monarch. In a tell-all interview with <a href="https://variety.com/2022/digital/features/meghan-markle-grieving-queen-elizabeth-working-harry-1235407176/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Variety</a>, the Duchess of Sussex reflected on the extraordinary events of the past month since the Queen passed, and how it affected her family. She said, "There’s been such an outpouring of love and support.” “I’m really grateful that I was able to be with my husband to support him, especially during that time." <div id="indie-campaign-rHsIzpAmAj7xkA4llYlH-2" data-campaign-name="NCA ENTERTAINMENT newsletter" data-campaign-indie="newsletter-signup" data-jira="TSN-268" data-from="1640955600000" data-to="1677502800000"></div> “What’s so beautiful is to look at the legacy that his grandmother was able to leave on so many fronts. Certainly, in terms of female leadership, she is the most shining example of what that looks like." “I feel deep gratitude to have been able to spend time with her and get to know her. “It’s been a complicated time, but my husband, ever the optimist, said, ‘Now she’s reunited with her husband.’” Meghan was also asked if she had any thoughts about her relationship with the Queen following her death. “I’ve reflected on that first official engagement that I had with her, how special that felt. I feel fortunate,” Meghan said. “And I continue to be proud to have had a nice warmth with the matriarch of the family.” The Duchess was also quizzed about her recent interview with The Cut, which "some found to be snarky". In that interview, Meghan claimed that "just by existing", her and Prince Harry were "upsetting the dynamic" of the royal family. Since then, she said she has had time to reflect on the story. She said, “Part of me is just really trusting, really open — that’s how I move in the world. I have to remember that I don’t ever want to become so jaded that that piece of me goes away. So despite any of those things? Onward. I can survive it.” Image credits: Variety

Family & Pets

Rod Stewart slammed after Royal Variety Performance

Image: Shutterstock Once again, Rod Stewart has been roasted by ITV viewers after his appearance on the Royal Variety Performance on Sunday evening. Attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and hosted by Alan Carr, this event is huge and attracts a lot of attention every year. Sir Rod, aged 76, took to the stage to perform his hit ‘One More Time’, leaving viewers less than impressed. Among the flurry of comments on Twitter, one person shared: “Rod Stewart’s performance possibly worst ever on royal variety. Elvis Costello - hold my beer.” Another wrote on Twitter: “Rod Stewart sounds like that old boy down the boozer singing karaoke who’s smoking 60 benson [cigarettes] a day”. “Why are people still booking rod stewart?! Second hand embarrassment in my living room.” Some fans however, defended the best-selling artist for the performance, Among the comments, one wrote: “Love a bit of Rod. Great performance and love the Leopard print outfit.” Another advised those who didn’t like it to switch off because others were still enjoying the show. The person added: “Some of us are enjoying it.” It’s not the first time Rod has been hit with backlash from fans. Appearing on the Graham Norton show last month also earnt him further criticism. It comes days after him and his son pled guilty to a battery and assault charge in Flordia on New Year’s Eve 2019.

Music

The variety of ways that mental health can manifest in pets

Anxiety in our furry and feathered friends can manifest itself in a variety of ways, including a dog who barks incessantly at nothing and a budgie who obsessively plucks out its feathers. Despite one in five animals suffering from some form of mental illness, not much is known about it. Dr Kersti Seksel, whose a registered veterinary specialist in animal behaviour and behavioural medicine, spoke to <a href="https://vetpracticemag.com.au/barking-mad-pet-mental-health/">Vet Practice Magazine</a> about anxiety in pets. “We see cases of separation anxiety, so dogs who can’t be left alone. They can become quite destructive and bark and howl a lot. Often, they’ll also pace excessively. We see animals who cannot deal with people or aren’t good with members of their own species. We see cases of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder where the animal will self-mutilate or spin. And we certainly see animals with PTSD, where something really traumatic has happened to them. These are not cases that training alone can help, regardless of what people may be told.” However, it can be tricky for vets to pick up on anxiety or other mental illnesses in animals as owners aren’t aware that’s what they are. “Oftentimes though, people won’t present the animal’s behaviour as the primary issue; they’ll often mention it as part of other things,” says Doctor Jacqui Ley, who’s a registered vet specialising in behavioural medicine. Dr Seksel says that it’s on the staff to tell whether or not the animal is anxious. “If you’ve got well-trained staff, they’ll be able to tell you a lot about that dog’s behaviour – whether it’s frightened or stressed – just by observing its body language in the waiting room, how active it is, how it reacts to noise, how easily it comes to the vet,” says Dr Seksel. Once the vet is aware that your animal is suffering from mental illness, the next step is treatment. “We need to help them learn how to cope,” explained Dr Ley. “In some cases, medication – including supplements and pheromones – helps calm and settle the animal so they can actually start to think as opposed to just react to what they find scary.” However, more education is needed so animals can get the help they need. “The public’s awareness of human mental health issues means that people are looking at it and being more proactive,” explained Ley, but she’s worried that animals are “just written off and then put down as being naughty or vicious”.

Family & Pets

Rove McManus' happy announcement

Despite low ratings, popular TV personality Rove McManus has had a major win with his variety show Bring Back Saturday Night returning to Network Ten, it has been announced. In August, the channel followed in the tradition of major American TV networks like its new owner CBS, and ran a number of pilot TV programs to test audience reaction and interest, and decided which ones should be green-lighted for a series. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Very pleased to announce that <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SaturdayNightAU?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SaturdayNightAU</a> is officially on the air for <a href="https://twitter.com/Channel10AU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Channel10AU</a> in 2019! Happy Halloween indeed. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/10tvwithatwist?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#10tvwithatwist</a> <a href="https://t.co/bT15EMUjSx">pic.twitter.com/bT15EMUjSx</a> — Rove McManus (@Rove) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rove/status/1057754628517851137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2018</a></blockquote> The show, hosted by McManus, was only watched by just shy of 300,000 viewers – the lowest rating show of all of the eight shows – but the multiple Gold Logie winner says that in the social media age, television ratings aren’t everything. “It’s not just about bare bones, there are a lot of other things to factor into it,” he told <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/former-tv-king-rove-bounces-back-from-string-of-flops-with-new-show/news-story/b77eaa1e793ce80935326296e1c9239b" target="_blank">The Daily Telegraph</a>. “And also, we had an overwhelmingly positive response on social media … I can’t remember the last thing I worked on that was overwhelmingly positive on social media, so that’s nice as well.” Beverley McGarvey, Network Ten Chief Content Officer, said that there are few in the industry who have the experience to host a variety show. “Rove is the best man for the job,” she said. “He is such a talent and he can do those big entertainment shows — it is a very short list of people that have that experience.” It could be a chance for McManus to bounce back, at least on screen (his company Roving Enterprises is behind Network Ten's popular nightly news program The Project), after some career setbacks. Some of his latest projects have failed to capture an audience including gameshow Show Me The Movie (although it will be back for a second series) and his radio show hosted with Sam Frost, who vied for love on The Bachelorette, was axed last year after running for 18 months on the Hit Network. But one TV insider who spoke to the publication said that Network Ten was beholden to the TV host to green-light Bring Back Saturday Night because of his production deals with the broadcaster. He said the [age] had lost “currency”. “Ten knows too well Rove’s currency has plummeted but executives need to keep him sweet,” they said. “His production company is behind a number of Ten shows like The Project. They seriously don’t have any choice, if they don’t keep Rove happy, they’re stuffed,” they said. In August, when the ratings came out for the variety show pilot, the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/the-once-popular-comedian-rove-mcmanus-seems-to-have-lost-his-australian-audience/news-story/d7cae6f425c54b2faba59c06a7b4035a" target="_blank">Daily Telegraph</a> quoted a “a highly placed television executive” as saying that, “the audience just does not like Rove anymore". “When he was young, there was a real freshness to him and he seemed to be slightly too young to have that knowing way that he had,” they said. “There was this inherent charm in how young he was and that knowing schtick that he had.” They added, “Now that he is just an older bloke, the knowing and the age line up so he has sort of lost that cheeky charm.” But the TV insider believed that projects “properly produced” with McManus at the helm may work. Media Week’s James Manning told the publication that the variety show’s difficult Saturday night time slot affected its initial ratings. “It was a tiny audience but Saturday night is a difficult one to pull an audience if it is not live sport,” Manning said. But McManus had plenty of well-wishers when he announced the return of the show on his Twitter account. Said one fan: “About time you came back to the type of show you are great at. Looking forward to it.” Did you watch Bring Back Saturday Night? Let us know what you thought in the comments section.

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Hugh Jackman speaks candidly about losing his father

"Deep gratitude": Meghan Markle pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth

Rod Stewart slammed after Royal Variety Performance

The variety of ways that mental health can manifest in pets

Rove McManus' happy announcement

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