Guest Hugh Jackman (Wolverine)
Host Tim Ferriss
Reads a book every morning with his wife Deb
books by Esther Perel, Seth Godin, David Brooks (Second Mountain)
makes a cup of coffee, takes cold shower, then reads and meditates together
read out loud to each other
Gifts these two books often:
EB White’s Here is New York
David Foster Wallace’s This Is Water
prefers gifting short books
Learned meditation at drama school
Does transcendental meditation – has a mantra to occupy the monkey mind
Like cloudy water that settles and then see crystal clear
Started at 23, did it very regularly twice a day
Natural energy that comes from being on stage
Tells his kids to find that joy in their lives
On Broadway, he has almost religious routines and rules – no alcohol, doesn’t go out after shows, can sleep 45 minutes after getting off stage
Says a small mantra, moment of silence, before he goes on stage
Has listened to Tim’s podcast for years, also Sam Harris
Got nervous before being a guest
Tim: Hugh is polite to everyone he meets
Mom left when he was 8, primarily raised by his dad
Dad said “your religion should be in your actions”
also “You cannot over invest in education”
always keep your word, very big on ethics
rarely gave Hugh advice, encourage him to make his own decisions
His wife acts purely from instinct / heart
Originally studied to be a journalist / communications
Was on debate team in school
Brother is successful barrister
Lots of debates at home – brother was Rhodes Scholar
Did a play in his last semester – got lead role
Spent 90% of his time doing it, and loved it
Surrounded by theater people, realized that was where he was meant to be
Went to study acting after that
Watched all of Ken Burns stuff during quarantine
If you start a business, you have to give it 7 days a week for 5 years
Being a professional actor is the same way
“Never wait for the phone to ring”
“get your brand out there and get going”
Started a theater company
Be wary of the word “career” – don’t take things for granted
Did Beauty & The Beast
Got weekly singing lessons
Was labelled as a singer, not an actor
Kept getting musicals offers – wasn’t getting film auditions
But kept working, learning, listen to his gut
Some calling beyond conscious brain, something elemental and instinctual, something you can find and hone
Working with life coach for 4 years – what are you here for? what do you really want to do?
Especially when you’re married / have kids – first priority is what’s best for your family
Universe gives you signs – accepted into acting school, cost $3.5K, didn’t have the money and didn’t want to ask dad, and then his grandmother passed and he got an inheritance of $3.5K
Tim: the most important personal examples of listening to intuition were when they didn’t make sense
Wife is into manifestation, he’s new to it
Greatest Showman – on fence about project; life coach told him he needed to commit one way or another; did visualization of how it could turn out, and went all-in – became a huge success
“Don’t insure yourself against failure”
Exercise
His most efficient / best exercise is the rowing machine
If you wanna get lean, row
Add in chest / pushups
That’s all you need to stay healthy and strong
Fighting is dance, not body building – there’s more relaxation than strength
if you told athletes to run at 85% max, they’ll often run faster than 100% – because they’re more relaxed
Before he does an activity, he imagines the feeling / outcome when it’s done – helps prepare him because he often suffers from insecurity / lack of confidence
Carl Lewis – at 50 meter mark, his form was exactly the same – whereas the other sprinters started to tighten, exert and push more
Loves puzzles and games
Wentworth 1000 piece puzzle is a good starter
Another form of meditation
Can stay up late into night doing them