Hugh Jackman cheered for accountants

Hugh Jackman was more interested in the accountants at the Academy Awards than the actors in his youth.

The 44-year-old Australian actor stars in a new film adaptation of the classic musical drama Les Misérables alongside Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried.

The movie is expected to be a hit at the Oscars next year, but Hugh doesn’t want to put too much pressure on himself to win an Academy Award.

“You have to put it in perspective, my father was an accountant for Price Waterhouse. I was brought up in the northern suburbs of Sydney. I used to scream with excitement when the accountants came on at the Oscars. ‘Dad! It’s the accountants! There they are!’ ” he recalled to British newspaper The Sun.

“They came on with their briefcases, do you remember that?

“They don’t do it any more, but for accountability they used to bring out the Price Waterhouse accountants.

“And I would say, ‘Dad, one day you are going to be at the Oscars’, and he’d roll his eyes.”

Hugh played out a childhood dream when he attended his first Academy Awards ceremony.

“When I first got invited I had a camera and took a photo of the accountants when they came out on stage,” he said.

“I sent it to my dad thinking this is about as close as I’m going to get.

“So hosting it was amazing. But look, you’re not going to get any actor talking about it because you never want to feel that if it doesn’t happen there is any failure attached to it. Also, it is beyond your control.

“It is one of those things all actors would love but never dare dream of. For the movie, I will admit to perhaps hoping because I am a musical theatre fan and have been doing it a long time.”