With multiple acting awards under his belt, Hugh Jackman can make believe people he is his character on film or on stage. But perhaps he’s a little too good of an actor that even ten years after playing a gay man on stage, some people still believe that he is one. And this frustrates him and his wife of 17 years, Deborra-Lee Furness. In an interview with Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes,the 44-year-old international star, who was People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2008, said he wouldn’t have minded people thinking he was gay, but he gets frustrated for Furness. “If I was, I would be,” he said. “To me it’s not the most interesting thing about a person anyway. But I do get frustrated for Deb because I see Deb go, ‘Ah, this is just crazy.’” Hugh Jackman performing Not the Boy Next Door from The Boy From Oz

Jackman famously played the flamboyant gay entertainer Peter Allen in the Broadway production of The Boy from Oz in 2003, in which he won a Tony Award. He was already known then, having played Wolverine in the Marvel Comics superhero flick “X-Men” and opposite Meg Ryan and Ashley Judd in romantic comedies Kate & Leopold and Someone Like You. But perhaps some people still can’t shake the image of Jackman as Peter in their head. They still see him as the singing and dancing gay man who had been in denial with his sexuality. “It is just wrong. It’s a lie. It’s the bottom line; it’s just offensive,” Furness, who was sitting beside Jackman, told the show’s Tara Brown. “If he was gay, fine! He would say he’s gay. It has gotten so out of whack that it’s stupid and it’s annoying because it’s not true.” It is indeed frustrating for the loving couple since gay rumours would suggest that their marriage was a sham. But Jackman admitted that the rumours have its upside. Being speculated upon would also mean that he is getting famous. “I think on some level it’s a compliment because it only happens when you get to a certain point in your career,” he laughed. “It’s a bit ridiculous but whatever. “It’s just silly.” The couple married in April 1996. They have two adopted children, Oscar Maximillian and Ava Eliot. Meanwhile, Jackman’s interview with 60 Minutes was a ratings winner for the Nine Network on Sunday night. It drew 1.585 million viewers, winning over The Block Sky High (1.503 million) and Nine News (1.503 million) which are both from Nine as well, according to OzTAM. Jackman has two upcoming films this year. The Wolverine, in which he reprises his superhero character, will be released on the big screen on July 24, while the crime thriller Prisoners will be released in September.