He is the son of one of the most recognizable actors on earth. Almost no one has seen his face in years.
Oscar Maximilian Jackman, the adopted son of Deadpool & Wolverine star Hugh Jackman and actress-producer Deborra-Lee Furness, is 25 years old and turns 26 in May 2026. He has never spoken to the press, holds no public social media presence, and has been photographed in public only a handful of times across two decades. Everything known about him comes through his father, a few verified Australian publications, and one Instagram post he wrote at 18 years old that told the world more about who he is than anything that has come out since.
Table of Contents
| Full Name | Oscar Maximilian Jackman |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | May 15, 2000 |
| Birthplace | California, United States |
| Age | 25 (turns 26 in May 2026) |
| Nationality | Australian-American |
| Ethnicity | African-American, Caucasian, Bosnian, Hawaiian, Cherokee |
| Adoptive Parents | Hugh Jackman & Deborra-Lee Furness |
| Biological Mother | Amber Lanham |
| Siblings | Ava Eliot Jackman (adopted sister, born 2005) |
| Education | New York Ross School; Leeds Arts University |
How Hugh Jackman’s Son Came to the Jackman Family
Hugh and Deborra-Lee married in 1996 after meeting on the Australian TV drama Correlli the year before. They initially planned to have biological children first. That did not happen. Deborra-Lee went through multiple miscarriages and several rounds of IVF, and adoption became their clear path forward.
One detail that rarely gets reported: the couple first tried adopting in Australia. Complicated local adoption laws redirected them to the United States instead.
At an adoption agency in Los Angeles, an official warned them against ticking the mixed-race box simply out of good intentions, noting that mixed-race children were regularly turned away because families willing to take them were too few. Hugh and Deborra-Lee ticked it anyway.
Hugh told People in 2017:
“Our motivation behind adopting was, ‘Where is the need?’ And we just knew from talking with people in that space, when we were looking around, that the biggest need is in mixed-race kids.”
Oscar was born on May 15, 2000, in California, and was adopted by the Jackmans the same year. When the process was done, the tension of years lifted. Hugh told the Herald Sun in 2011:
“From the moment we started the adoption process, all the anxiety went away. I don’t think of them as adopted. They’re our children. Deb and I are believers in destiny. We feel things happened the way they are meant to.”
Five years later, in July 2005, the family adopted a daughter, Ava Eliot Jackman.
The Biological Family Oscar Never Knew Growing Up
Oscar’s biological mother was Amber Lanham, a young woman from Vinton, Iowa, who gave birth to him in California in 2000. She placed him for adoption without first introducing him to her own family. His biological father’s identity has never been confirmed publicly.
Amber died by suicide in 2005, at 28 years old. In the year before her death, she told a magazine: “The only time I see my son is when he’s photographed with Hugh in magazines.”
She left behind two other children. Oscar’s biological sisters, Olivia and Nyomi Lanham, were raised by their aunt Rochelle in Vinton, Iowa, following Amber’s death.
In 2016, Oscar’s maternal grandfather Thomas Lanham, then 78, told the National Enquirer: “I didn’t get to see Oscar as a baby. I would still love to see him before it’s too late for me.”
The Day He Drove to Iowa at 18
When Oscar turned 18, he made the decision to travel to Vinton and meet his biological family for the first time. In February 2018, he put it on Instagram himself:
“Today has undoubtedly been the most important day of my life. I finally got to meet my biological family. Although I was only in Iowa for half a day, I felt that I got to know each of you personally. You are some of the kindest people I’ve ever met, and I promise I’m not just saying that.”
His biological sister Olivia responded in the comments: “I feel like I’ve known you my whole life. Love you forever and always little brother.”
Woman’s Day Australia confirmed that Hugh and Deborra-Lee were present for the reunion. A source close to the family told the publication: “He’s a happy and passionate young adult who, despite being adopted and growing up as celebrity offspring, is kind, popular with his friends, and well adjusted. It’s everything Hugh and Deb had ever hoped for Oscar.”
What Growing Up as Wolverine’s Son Actually Looked Like
The Jackman household was deliberate about keeping both Oscar and Ava connected to their individual heritage. When a young Oscar discovered he was part Bosnian, the family found a Croatian/Bosnian cookbook. Deborra-Lee told People in 2020: “He was very proud to carry that around when he was 7 years old.”
In a 2024 People interview alongside Ryan Reynolds, Hugh said the Australian identity was something he made sure both children held onto:
“It was a really important thing that they felt part Australian. I think if you ask them, they’ll say, ‘Oh, I’m Australian. I’m American too, but I’m Australian.'”
Being the son of Wolverine had its moments. Hugh shared one at the 2018 Hollywood Film Awards:
“Once he was on the beach. He was talking to a girl, who I guess to be about 15, and he started walking towards me. He goes, ‘Dad, Dad, Dad, she’s coming over. I told her you’re Wolverine, just go with it.’ I was like, ‘I am the wingman for my 13-year-old boy.'”
By his early twenties, the dynamic had shifted. Hugh told Hello Magazine in 2022:
“He’s at a point in his life where he doesn’t think he should be following his father’s advice anymore. Anytime I ask him to do something or listen to me, he just says, ‘I’m an adult now. I can do what I want.'”
In the same period, at a press conference for his film The Son, Hugh told reporters he had changed his approach to parenting both Oscar and Ava: “I share my vulnerabilities more with my 17 and 22-year-olds, and I see their relief when I do.”
Education: From New York to Leeds
Oscar graduated from the New York Ross School, a private school in East Hampton, in 2019. His LinkedIn profile confirmed he later attended Leeds Arts University in Leeds, England, studying Film and Cinema. The precise timeline between the two has not been confirmed by any primary source.
Oscar Jackman’s Girlfriend, Grace Hingston-Hurtado
In its December 2020 edition, Woman’s Day Australia reported that Oscar had been in a relationship with Grace Hingston-Hurtado, the adopted daughter of Australian actor Sean Hingston and American TV producer Brad Hurtado, known for an appearance on Sex and the City.
The connection between the two was striking:
- Both were adopted in 2000, the same year
- Both are “Ausmericans” raised across two countries
- Both grew up in New York with parents in entertainment
- Both met through mutual friends while studying in the city
Oscar reportedly called Grace “the love of my life” in a birthday post on his private Instagram account. A source told Woman’s Day: “Oscar loves that she’s an Ausmerican, and adopted, just like he is.”
By 2021, NowToLove reported the pair had traveled together to the Turks and Caicos Islands and England. Hugh had also gifted Grace’s fathers tickets to The Music Man Broadway rehearsal in December 2021, a detail Grace’s father Brad confirmed publicly on Instagram.
No confirmed reporting on the relationship has appeared since 2021. Its current status is not publicly known.
The 2024 New York Sighting
On March 17, 2024, Hugh and Oscar were photographed together on a Sunday walk through Manhattan. It was one of the rarest public sightings of the two together in recent years. Oscar, then 23, wore navy trousers and a beige jacket.
Both Hello Magazine and SCMP noted that Oscar now matches his father’s height of 190cm. Neither made any public statement. They walked, and that was it.
His Parents’ Separation and Where the Family Stands Now
Hugh and Deborra-Lee announced their separation in September 2023, releasing a joint statement to People: “Our family has been and always will be our highest priority. We undertake this next chapter with gratitude, love, and kindness.”
Deborra-Lee filed for divorce in May 2025. In a statement at the time, she described the end of the marriage as a “traumatic journey of betrayal.” The divorce was finalized in June 2025. Hugh has since been in a relationship with Broadway actress Sutton Foster, and the two made their public red carpet debut in October 2025.
Oscar has made no public comment on any of it.
At the 2025 AFI Fest premiere of Song Sung Blue, Hugh gave E! News the most recent public word on where his son stands: asked whether Oscar or Ava might pursue acting, he said simply:
“They’d both be very good, but I don’t know. I just want them to do what they love.”
Where Oscar Maximilian Jackman Is Now
At 25, he has no confirmed public profile, no press record, and no announced career. What he does have is a life built entirely on his own terms, which, given where he started, is no small thing.
He came into the world under difficult circumstances, lost his biological mother before he was old enough to know her, grew up carrying one of Hollywood’s most recognizable surnames, and navigated his parents’ very public separation as a young adult. He handled all of it out of view, by choice.
The one window he gave the public was in Iowa in 2018, in a brief Instagram post, meeting sisters who had grown up without him. “You are some of the kindest people I’ve ever met,” he wrote. “And I promise I’m not just saying that.”
That is about as much as anyone outside his circle is likely to get. For Oscar Jackman, that appears to be very much the point.
