--- title: Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness’ Secret to Long Marriage description: Find out what Hugh Jackman told PEOPLE about how meditation is the secret to his 21-year marriage with Deborra Lee Furness. canonical: https://time.com/4809176/hugh-jackman-deborra-lee-furness-secret-marriage/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-07T15:41:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:42.831Z og:title: The Surprising Secret to Hugh Jackman’s 21-Year Marriage og:description: 'We meditate together' og:url: https://time.com/4809176/hugh-jackman-deborra-lee-furness-secret-marriage/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3aef8195cdbd596/6988d09b4ee262878530da15/hugh-jackman.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: David Lynch Foundation Hosts "National Night Of Laughter And Song" og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Surprising Secret to Hugh Jackman’s 21-Year Marriage twitter:description: 'We meditate together' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3aef8195cdbd596/6988d09b4ee262878530da15/hugh-jackman.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Surprising Secret to Hugh Jackman’s 21-Year Marriage by [Alexandra Fleming / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Alexandra Fleming / People Jun 7, 2017 3:41 PM UTC  WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 05: Hugh Jackman (L) and Deborra-Lee Furness attend the National Night of Laughter and Song event hosted by David Lynch Foundation at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on June 5, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/WireImage) WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 05: Hugh Jackman (L) and Deborra-Lee Furness attend the National Night of Laughter and Song event hosted by David Lynch Foundation at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on June 5, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/WireImage)Paul Morigi—WireImage by [Alexandra Fleming / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Alexandra Fleming / People Jun 7, 2017 3:41 PM UTC [Hugh Jackman](http://people.com/tag/hugh-jackman) and [Deborra-Lee Furness](http://people.com/movies/hugh-jackman-talks-marriage-to-deborra-lee-furness/) know just the thing to make their [marriage](http://people.com/movies/hugh-jackman-wedding-anniversary-deborra-lee-furness/) work. The Aussie couple spoke to PEOPLE at the National Night of Laughter and Song event presented by the David Lynch Foundation at the John F. Kennedy Center in D.C. on Monday night, where they revealed their cheeky secret to a long-lasting marriage. “Meditation!” Jackman said, with his wife chiming in on their bonding ritual. “We meditate together,” Furness added. “And sometimes we have friends over to do it, too. It’s a lovely Sunday-morning thing. Everyone comes over, and then we have breakfast.” The couple met on the set of the Australian drama _Corelli_ in 1995 and have two kids together, Oscar, 15, and Ava, 10\. And there are other ways they keep their 21-year marriage going, including a “sense of humor,” as Furness said. And Jackman immediately backed her up, saying, “And always listen to the wife.” The couple celebrated their 21st anniversary in April, with Jackman [posting a short and sweet tribute to his wife](http://people.com/movies/hugh-jackman-wedding-anniversary-deborra-lee-furness/) on Instagram. “To the love of my life. 21 glorious years. I love you with all my heart,” he wrote along with a selfie of the two playing tennis. The actor [opened up about his marriage](http://people.com/movies/hugh-jackman-talks-marriage-to-deborra-lee-furness/) on _The Ellen DeGeneres Show_ last year, telling the host, “It gets better and better, I can honestly say that. She’s the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I’m kind of really grateful that I met her before anything kind of happened. Everything that’s happened in my career and onscreen, offscreen, we’ve always done it together.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4809176/hugh-jackman-deborra-lee-furness-secret-marriage/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4809176/hugh-jackman-deborra-lee-furness-secret-marriage/"},"headline":"The Surprising Secret to Hugh Jackman’s 21-Year Marriage","datePublished":"2017-06-07T15:41:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:42.831Z","description":"'We meditate together'","url":"https://time.com/4809176/hugh-jackman-deborra-lee-furness-secret-marriage/","keywords":["motto","Marriage","Meditation","relationships"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3aef8195cdbd596/6988d09b4ee262878530da15/hugh-jackman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Fleming / People"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3aef8195cdbd596/6988d09b4ee262878530da15/hugh-jackman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"David Lynch Foundation Hosts \"National Night Of Laughter And Song\"","caption":"David Lynch Foundation Hosts \"National Night Of Laughter And Song\"","creditText":"Paul Morigi—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4809176/hugh-jackman-deborra-lee-furness-secret-marriage/","name":"The Surprising Secret to Hugh Jackman’s 21-Year Marriage"}}]}] ```