Hugh Jackman has been married to actress Deborra-Lee Furness for 17 years, and the star recently opened up about how he popped the question and the secrets to their lasting marriage.
In an interview published in Good Housekeeping's August 2013 issue, Jackman said that after meeting on set in 1995, he and Furness were "best mates... We just clicked." A little more than three months later, he popped the question by setting up a table with croissants and flowers next to a lake at a botanical garden, and took her there during a morning walk.
"Deb just stopped and said, 'Oh, my God, it's gorgeous,' " he said. "And I whispered in her ear, 'Surprise.'" After Jackman popped the question, a group of schoolgirls who had been watching asked what Furness' response was. "Deb stood on top of the table and called out, 'I said yes!'"
Since marrying in 1996, Jackman said he and Furness have maintained a rule to not be apart from each other for more than two weeks at a time, and said they "talk about everything all the time."
"The bedrock of any relationship is to communicate, and Deb and I have always done that, discussing whatever's going on, good or bad," he said.
And what's Jackman's number one rule for romance? Surprise.
"If I bring Deb flowers every Tuesday, yeah, it's nice, but is it romantic?" Jackman said. "[Recently], I pretended I was still on the set. I called Deb and said, 'I'll be back late tonight.'" But he showed up hours before she expected him home. "And she got such a shock. I'd made reservations at our favorite lunch place. It was three hours before the kids finished school, and it was awesome because it was unplanned."
Jackman and Furness are the parents of two adopted children. They recently appeared on Australia's "60 Minutes" together, where Furness described Jackman's gay rumors as "annoying" and said her husband is "pretty close to perfect."
Check out more long-lasting celebrity marriages in the slideshow below.
