He might feel good in a place like this, but a $100,000 donation to the place seems to make him feel even better.
Linked by explosive box office news and their shared status as Australian A-listers, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman have been in each other’s lives for decades, but only now have they reached a new level of friendship.
The ‘Big Little Lies’ star attended ‘The Music Man’ show to support her former co-star at the Winter Garden Theater on Saturday night when she shocked the crowd with a huge gift.
In a video shared from inside the theater, Kidman’s voice can be heard off-camera as she offers to donate more than $100,000 for a hat Jackman’s character wears in the Broadway Cares/Equity benefit show Fight AIDS.
Her mere presence prompts thunderous applause and then a standing ovation from attendees before she takes the stage to share a hug with a stunned Jackman.
“I love Broadway, I love what I do — Broadway Cares, but I also want to say that the show is amazing,” she said before the actor handed her the expensive suits.
Jackman then took the microphone to celebrate Kidman on stage as he returned to his seat.
“I’ve known Nic for almost 30 years. I’ve worked with her, I can tell you it’s no surprise,” she said. “She is one of the most giving souls I know.”
Jackman echoed the same sentiment on Twitter, sharing a video of the moment on stage, writing: “The generosity that emanates from #Nicole Kidman leaves me speechless! you are amazing. Thank you for your friendship and support!”
The “X-Men” actor currently stars opposite Sutton Foster in the Broadway revival, which closes next month.
Photonotics via Getty Images
While Kidman and Jackman only shared the screen once in director Baz Luhrmann’s 2008 film Australia, their behind-the-scenes friendship stretches back decades.
The Oscar winner previously revealed that Jackman and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness helped her get started in Hollywood, as she often slept on the latter’s couch after he moved to Los Angeles.
“She was one of my best friends. [I slept on the couch] in the house that Deborra-Lee was renting and she gave me the chance to stay there and we could audition,” Kidman said last year. “They were both so influential in helping me get started in the United States.”
She also credited the longtime couple for helping her get through her 2001 divorce from Tom Cruise, sharing in 2019 that the two of them were “such a big part of my recovery.”
Now, it’s only fitting that Jackman donates the same amount to the charity of his choice the next time he catches one of Kidman’s AMC commercials.
