Hugh Jackman posts rare photo of mum who left him as a child

Australian actor Hugh Jackman shared a rare photo of himself embracing his mother, who left him when he was a young child—and fans didn’t hesitate to show their appreciation for the heartwarming picture.

On Monday, Jackman took to his Instagram to post the photo with a simple caption: “Mum.”

The picture showed Jackman and his mum Grace McNeil smiling at each other with endearment as Jackman placed an arm around her shoulder with care.

“Awww, what a lovely pic of you and your mum. Love it. Hope you had an amazing and relaxing time catching up with her,” someone wrote.

"Cherish every second...I miss my mom every moment of the day,” another added.

A third commented on the genuine smiles between the mother and son and wrote, “Such a lovely photo! Long may you both remain smiling.”

Someone else took to the comments to note that McNeil didn’t raise Jackman.

"Actually, his father raised him," they wrote.

In 2018, Jackman spoke to Australian news outlet Who magazine, that he found his mother’s absence “traumatic.”

His parents got a divorce when he was eight years old. His sisters, Sonya and Zoe, went to live with McNeil in her native England. Jackman ended up being cared for by his father, Christopher Jackman, in Sydney, Australia.

"I thought she was probably going to come back. And then it sort of dragged on and on,” Jackman said.

He noted that when McNeil left the family, he only saw her “once a year” and that it wasn’t until he was 12 or 13 years old that he realised that his mother wasn’t going to return permanently.

Jackman further explained in a conversation with The Australian Women’s Weekly that  McNeil suffered from postnatal depression.

"She was in hospital after I was born suffering from post-natal depression. There wasn’t a support network for her here," he said.

Jackson also told The Sun newspaper that he has since forgiven his mom for that time in their lives.

“I am 43 now, and we have definitely made our peace, which is important... I have a good relationship with her,” he told the outlet.

Jackman stars in the recent sci-fi mystery thriller film Reminiscence, which is available for streaming on HBO Max.