Newstalk ZB's Kate Hawkesby interviews Hugh Jackman during his surprise Auckland visit.
Hugh Jackman's children have travelled the world with him - but he says they're most excited to head to New Zealand with him.
Jackman is bringing his family on his world tour - The Man. The Music. The Show - which includes his first-ever performances in New Zealand, with two shows at Spark Arena in September.
"It's my first time ever in New Zealand performing on stage, which I'm absolutely thrilled about," he told Newstalk ZB's Kate Hawkesby. "My family have been everywhere - I grew up wanting to travel everywhere, and my kids are like, 'can we stay home?' Because their whole life they've been travelling.
"But when I told them I'm coming to New Zealand, both of them were very excited... I'm thrilled."
Jackman says the show will be true to his life and his story, "in a way for us to be able to connect, and relate to each other, and to try and give people the kind of night that they don't normally get". The show will include songs from The Greatest Showman, Les Miserables and more.
"There's gonna be stuff that I've done on stage, stuff I've wanted to do on stage - there's a lot of dancing, and some stories. I'll tell stories that I haven't really shared before."
Hugh Jackman says he hears from people "every day" who were affected by The Greatest Showman. Photo / supplied
Joining Jackman for his Australian and New Zealand leg is Māori singer and actress Keala Settle, who performed the hit song This Is Me in The Greatest Showman. Jackman says he shared "great chemistry" with Settle from the moment they met.
"When I first met Keala, I hugged her, and I said to her, 'I love you, and I don't even know you.' And she said, 'yeah you do.' And I said, 'you a Kiwi?' - because as soon as she gets around me, out comes the accent - and she goes, 'yeah'.
"There's just something about her, you can feel her when she performs, and audiences will feel it on stage when she comes out. I don't care if it's 100,000 people or 30 people, she just opens her heart, and she makes me do that too.
"Sometimes, if I'm feeling closed off, when you're around Keala, just everything opens up. That's why I said, she was the heart of that movie (The Greatest Showman), and I meant that."
Jackman says it was the global reaction to The Greatest Showman that inspired this world tour, as he hears from fans of the film "every single day".
"I watch their videos, people talk to me on the street - I can see not only how they connect to the songs, but I can see the energy that is possible. What can be created," he says.
"There's something about those songs that just open your heart, and just feel great, and I've experienced it at the Brit awards and other big places. That was really the impulse here."
Hugh Jackman performing with AUT students in Manukau on Wednesday. Photo / Michael Craig
"I haven't cried before at a press conference I don't think. Just the effect, particularly of those kids, and the haka, and the gifts, and feeling the privilege of being part of the journey that is happening at this university, just brings it all back into perspective."
Hugh Jackman's The Man. The Music. The Show. tour will take place at Auckland's Spark Arena on September 6 and 7. See Ticketmaster for tickets and details.
