Gary Sweet: I'm only a six out of ten father, I wish I was better

Gary Sweet is enjoying being back in the limelight. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

Colin Vickery, The Daily Telegraph, reports

Gary Sweet reckons he just scrapes through with a pass as a real-life father.

On House Husbands, Sweet plays devoted husband and dad Lewis Crabb.

Lewis is on to his third marriage - old school, stubborn, tough on the outside but a big softie on the inside.

Sweet has also had a turbulent relationship history.

The 55-year-old has been married three times. In 1981, he wed actress Lenore Smith (The Restless Years, The Flying Doctors). The couple had two children - Frank and Sophie.

In 1987, Sweet married lawyer Jill Miller but that too ended in divorce.

In 1995, he wed Better Homes and Gardens host Johanna Griggs. The marriage ended but produced two kids - Jesse James and Joe Buster.

Sweet copped plenty of media flak after the split - the lovable larrikin of Police Rescue, Bodyline and Blue Murder was portrayed as a bounder.

Sweet and Griggs finally buried the hatchet in 2010.

Sweet is the first to admit his ever-changing relationship status has taken its toll on his ability to live up to the fictional Lewis when it comes to parenting.

"I'd give myself a five or a six out of 10,'' Sweet says. "I wish I was better.

"(Son) Frank is the one I see the most of these days because he lives in Melbourne (where the top-rating House Husbands is filmed). "Sophie lives in Adelaide and my two little blokes - well, they're not so little - live in Sydney.

"I try to be as good a father as I can be when I see them, but I often don't see my younger ones as much as I'd like to. I do the best with the skills I've got.''

Sweet's personal life has been a rollercoaster, but his acting career is in full swing.

Next week, Sweet stars alongside Jeremy Sims, William McInnes and Susie Porter in Dangerous Remedy.

The ABC telemovie spotlights Dr Bertram Wainer, who campaigned for abortion law reform.

Early this year, Sweet filmed the movie Two Mothers, with Naomi Watts and Robin Wright, based on a book by Doris Lessing.

Sweet's credits include The Pacific, Small Time Gangster and Rescue Special Ops.

House Husbands is the jewel in the crown -- a mainstream hit that has brought Sweet's popularity and profile back to Police Rescue levels.

"When I first read the (House Husbands) scripts I thought people would be able to relate to the stories and the families,'' Sweet says.

"It is a show with a lot of warmth to it. It's definitely got a heartbeat.''

House Husbands focuses on four men -- played by Sweet, Gyton Grantley, Rhys Muldoon and Firass Dirani -- who are raising young families.

Lewis becomes a stay-at-home dad to five-year-old daughter Tilda, when he sells his building business.

Lewis wants to retire and wife Gemma (Julia Morris) is committed to her nursing career.

"The main difference between Lewis and me is that he's a little less progressive than I am,'' Sweet says with a laugh.

"The thing I like about him is that he is fundamentally decent. He has a great deal of integrity, he is a good dad and he is in love with his partner.''

Playing Gemma is a big jump for Morris, who is best known as one of the stars of comedy sketch show Full Frontal.

The 44-year-old won last year's Celebrity Apprentice Australia and also took out Seven singing contest It Takes Two.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't have some reservations (about Morris) at the start -- but then I met her,'' Sweet says.

"Now she is one of my favourite people in the world. The (public) perception of her is that she is quite upfront and out there, but the more you get to know her, the more you realise how extremely well prepared (as an actor) she is.

"She is sharply intelligent and very generous and deeply compassionate, and great fun to be around.

"She is very courageous in her decision-making. She's really determined to make this (House Husbands) a success. She's not here to make up the numbers.''

Sweet's bond with Muldoon, Grantley and Dirani is just as strong.

"We (four actors) are different in terms of our experience and our lives but we . . . have a great deal of fun together.''

House Husbands, Channel 9, Sunday, 8.30pm

Wolverine will discover his Kryptonite, says Hugh Jackman as Fox pops new teaser poster

Picture: 20th Century Fox

The Daily Telegraph reports

Hugh Jackman has comes as close as he ever will to conceding that the last Wolverine movie was a dud.

In an online Q&A with fans, Jackman said his new Wolvie movie was the Wolvie movie he always wanted to make.

"This movie is called The Wolverine, we really wanted this movie, better than any before, to encapsulate that character. You’re going to see every side to him. There’s going to be some surprises in there too. You have to see him lower, more desperate, more at stake than ever before.

"Finally, physically, what is on film is what I had in my head. This is not a vanity thing. It’s important that that rage inside is seen in his body. I wanted to see veins, I wanted him to be animalistic."

The last time Jackman popped the claws, comic fans and movie-goers were less than impressed. X-Men Origins: Wolverine suffered from a patchy script and disjointed, over-the-top action scenes and its box office was down on previous entries in the X-Men saga.

The Wolverine, which is almost finished shooting in Sydney, is based on the celebrated Chris Claremont-Frank Miller comic series from 1980s and finds Wolverine caught in a gang war in Tokyo.

Director James Mangold, who sat in on the Q&A, said he didn't want to make just another superhero / action movie. "We don’t want to succumb to what has been going on for years now which is sort of an arms race of action movies where they try to out do in terms of spectacle. Music can only get so loud," he said.

Mangold also scotched rumours that The Wolverine would be another prequel.

"This film (takes place) after the X-Men movies and finds Logan at a point where the X-Men are gone. A lot of the ties he had to the world are gone. Almost every intimate connection he had to the world is either destroyed or broken."

He told fans that the film would explore "what it's like to live essentially forever, to keep losing the ones you love", although Jackman teased that his character's immortality would be tested: "Actually, in this movie, how do we put it? Let’s say, he discovers his Kryptonite."

The Q&A came as the teaser poster made its debut online.

God must be angry with Russell Crowe: Hurricane Sandy threatens Noah's Ark film

About to get wet: Russell Crowe as Noah. Picture: Paramount Source: Supplied

The Daily Telegraph reports

A storm of biblical proportions has halted production on Russell Crowe's Noah ark movie, which just goes to show that either God has a sense of humour or really hates Russell Crowe.

The Los Angeles Times reports that work was postponed as Hurricane Sandy bore down the New York sets and the two massive arks the production team have built for the movie.

Filming on Noah is almost complete so the stoppage won't harm the project.

Emma Watson, who co-stars in the film, tweeted: "I take it that the irony of a massive storm holding up the production of Noah is not lost" while director Darren Aronofsky decided to catch up on some movies, including Cloud Atlas and The Master.

Crowe, who plays the title character, used the time to reminisce about past holidays: "one person’s random is another person’s linear...1970 family holiday, drove to Queensland, straight into the teeth of a cyclone, good call Dad!"

He also joked: "Aren't butterflies just amazing?" and "Wind picking up outside".

Noah comes out in 2014.

Emily Browning and Xavier Samuel - Aussies hang out on screen and off

Xavier Samuel and Emily Browning / Pic: Splash Source: The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph reports

Has on-screen chemistry once again morphed into real-life romance for Aussie actors-on-a-roll Emily Browning and Xavier Samuel?

That's the theory being floated about the co-stars, who are currently working on new sexually charged indie thriller Plush in LA.

Playing up-and-coming rockstars who fall into a downward spiral, the pair were this week seen out together buying CDs at legendary music giant Amoeba on Sunset Boulevard.

And they looked pretty happy together from where Confidential was sitting.

Browning, 23, best known for her roles in Sucker Punch and Sleeping Beauty, broke up with her British boyfriend Max Irons (son of the actor Jeremy Irons) earlier this year. Adelaide's Samuel, 28 - best known for his work on Twilight: Eclipse and A Few Best Men - was last linked to former Miss Europe pageant contestant Shermine Shahrivar.

In Plush - directed by Little Red Riding Hood's Catherine Hardwicke - Browning portrays a singer who loses her bandmate and brother to a drug overdose.

She seeks solace in the replacement guitarist (Samuel) however after an affair, his dark past starts to come through.

American "it" actor Cam Gigandet (of Easy A and Trespass fame) plays Browning's husband.

Jason Sullivan is now on Cruise control

Honest mistake ... Jason Sullivan / Pic: Angelo Soulas Source: The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph reports

It may not have been the way he planned to make his international splash but it seems Jason Sullivan, the man tasered outside Tom Cruise's house, is set to translate his high-profile indiscretion into a big Hollywood break.

The perma-tanned, lantern-jawed blond who relocated to LA from Sydney in July is said to have been inundated with media offers since his highly publicised arrest in Beverly Hills on Sunday night outside Cruise's home.

And Confidential hears that the 41-year-old model is taking his time to consider all offers because he is also in the midst of launching his TV career in the US under the watchful eye of pal and housemate Kevin Huvane, who lives next door to Cruise.

One of Hollywood's uber-power agents who counts Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt and Cruise among his client list, Huvane is said to be advising Sullivan on a handful of potential TV projects and has put the ex-Sydney boy up in his multi-million-dollar pad since his arrival in La La Land.

And already Sullivan has the support of his good pal and actress Erika Heynatz, who told Confidential this week: "I have great faith that Jason Sullivan will be a big star."How Sullivan came to be scaling Cruise's fence after a few drinks is yet to be fully revealed but he told police he mistook the property for his own.

And he informed Confidential exclusively that the matter was an "honest mistake".

Cruise bears no hard feelings and his lawyer Bert Fields has no plans to press charges, a given considering Sullivan is bunking with Cruise's agent.

All eyes now will be on just how well Sullivan can turn the embarrassing incident into a career positive.

His Aussie rep Sharon Finnigan told Confidential the model and interior decorator is weighing up his options before doing any interviews.

But don't be surprised if Nine's Karl Stefanovic gets first bite of the cherry.

Like Sullivan, he too is managed by Finnigan.

A role to die for

New blood … Yvonne Strahovski features in the new season of Dexter.

Rob Lowman, The Sydney Morning Herald, reports

Barely known in her native Australia, Yvonne Strahovski has landed a role on Dexter.

Australian actress Yvonne Strahovski was 23, with just a few local credits to her name, when she landed the role of Sarah Walker on Chuck. That show ran for five seasons and now she's landed a role in the latest season of Dexter, playing Hannah McKay, a woman with a dark past.

A homicide investigation brings her to the attention of the Miami police department and crime-scene investigator Dexter (Michael C. Hall). It transpires that Dex is somewhat smitten with Hannah.

''There may or may not be an attraction there between them,'' Strahovski says coyly. ''There's a lot of juicy secrets that she has in her past that will come to life quite quickly. The audience will be satisfied very quickly [with] where my character comes from and where she fits in the world of Dexter. And they will be doing something on the show this season that's never been done before.''

Strahovski was offered the role of Hannah without auditioning and says she was flattered when the producers called her. She had been only a casual viewer of the show, so she says she had to watch all six seasons in three weeks to catch up.

On set, she quickly stopped feeling like the new kid on the block. ''Everybody was so welcoming,'' she says. ''I've spent the majority of my time with Michael, who is extremely generous, very much an actor's actor and so easy to work with. He's amazing to watch and observe.''

Strahovski has been busy since Chuck ended. Earlier this year, she shot a movie in Australia called I, Frankenstein with Bill Nighy and Aaron Eckhart, which she calls more of a thriller than horror film.

She will also soon be seen in the movie The Guilt Trip, which stars Barbra Streisand as Seth Rogen's overbearing mother. Strahovski plays the high-school girlfriend of Rogen's character. ''It was great watching Barbra and Seth together,'' she says. ''They are just such pros.''

Strahovski, who never used her return ticket to Australia after she flew to Los Angeles to audition for Chuck, hopes Dexter will offer her a chance to delve into characters she hasn't played before. And for now, Los Angeles is her home.

''I enjoy living in LA,'' she says. ''This is where the work is - or, at least, generated from, because you fly off and do movies. ''It's sort of a great way to see the world.''

Born in Sydney, Strahovski is the daughter of Polish immigrants. The original spelling of her surname was Strzechowski but she changed it when she landed the role on Chuck ''so the spelling would be a little bit easier. Otherwise it makes no sense to someone who doesn't speak Polish.''

When it's pointed out to her that she could have become Yvonne Jones, she says:

''I wanted to honour my heritage and where I came from and keep the name. It was a tough decision to even change the spelling of it phonetically. I wanted to keep it as close to the original as it can be.''

Considering she has been in Hollywood for more than five years, Strahovski has kept a remarkably low profile in a town that thrives on gossip.

''I try to keep my private life private and the acting stuff separate,'' she says firmly.

Her ambition stripped bare

At 24, Anna McGahan has tasted success in Underbelly: Razor and House Husbands, and LA is ready for her reappearance. Photo: Getty Images

Paul Kalina, The Sydney Morning Herald, reports

There's more to Anna McGahan than her star turn with the Razor gang.

Not that long ago, an actor from Down Under looking to break into TV would hop on the next flight to Los Angeles, find an agent and wait for the phone to ring.

Should their careers take off, we might be lucky to see his or her name buried deep in the credits of an undistinguished TV series playing some forgettable part as, say, the estranged sibling of a murder victim.

By contrast, Anna McGahan has been too busy establishing her career at home to do the LA drill.

Earlier this year, the co-star of Underbelly: Razor was in LA to accept a $10,000 scholarship for an up-and-coming actor, established in honour of the late Heath Ledger.

But instead of enrolling at an acting school and doing the rounds of LA casting agents, McGahan headed straight home for the filming of House Husbands.

And with a leading role in the Brisbane production of David Williamson's stage play Managing Carmen, and a second season of Channel Nine's successful ensemble drama House Husbands starting next year, her hopes of returning to LA in the immediate future have been dashed.

For now, work is the 24-year-old's priority. ''If the time is right, I have this open door to go over there and enter that system a lot more smoothly than had I done it earlier,'' McGahan says on the phone from Brisbane, her home town. ''It's just a question about the right time to do it.''

Writing rather than acting was McGahan's secret, unfulfilled passion when she swapped university psychology studies for acting school. ''I love science, but I knew when I stopped turning up to lectures to go to short-film shoots that something was eating away at me and I really needed to give it a shot. I auditioned for acting school as a test run and got in.''

This year, the first of three full-length plays she has written was produced in Brisbane.

''You could say yes,'' McGahan replies hesitatingly to the question of ambition. ''I do this ebb and flow with writing. If I'm acting I'm usually writing as well, because I'm a bit ADHD and it helps balance it. I have a lot of aspirations when it comes to combining my writing and acting; when it comes to telling important stories and representing women and young people. You're holding the flag for your generation.''

While her Logie-nominated turn as young prostitute Nellie Cameron in Underbelly: Razor was regarded as her arrival on the scene, McGahan credits Claudia Karvan and the Foxtel drama she co-created and starred in, Spirited, for breaking her into TV. It was, she says, the first job ''that really shook me up''.

''There were things we did in Spirited that you'd never do in any other show. Someone's talking in your ear and you have to ignore they're there and keep acting. It took it out of this domestic or acting-school idea of what screen acting is for me.''

It was also a chance to overcome her nervousness. ''By the time we got to Underbelly, which was only a couple of weeks after, I still felt very new. I still am,'' she says. ''But I had this confidence, I had this enthusiasm and excitement for Underbelly, which I think would have been overshadowed if I hadn't done Spirited.''

Nudity and violence are hallmarks of the Underbelly franchise, but McGahan insists her decision to appear in Razor, arguably the most graphic of the series to date, wasn't taken lightly.

''I think to have played Nellie Cameron without [appearing nude] would have been a misrepresentation,'' she says. ''I have no qualms about that role or that shoot at all.''

She hasn't been asked to strip for roles since, and says her values would be tested were she asked to.

''I question when nudity is written into a fictional story and why and how it represents women … There's an interesting line where an audience sees the actor as the character or as you. Anyone that means anything to me looks at [Underbelly: Razor] and sees Nellie Cameron. They don't see me. I feel very protected by the character and the era. People can comment [on the nudity] as they wish and, to be honest, it's none of my business.''

The appeal of House Husbands is its complete departure from what she has done before. She plays grounded, practical and sweet-natured Lucy, in her 20s, one of several daughters of serial dad Lewis (Gary Sweet) and the girlfriend of reformed bad-boy sports star Justin (Firass Dirani).

Unlike many up-and-coming actors who would prefer to keep their options open than commit to a multiple-season show, McGahan finds the prospect of playing a recurring character appealing.

''What happens to your character affects other characters, and they affect you. There's an organic quality to it; it lives and breathes.

''I'm not sure what it will be like to go back to a second season of anything, but I've a feeling it's this completely new creation, like the idea that the cells in the body replace themselves every few years.''

Before then, McGahan appears, albeit briefly, in the feature-length The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, a period murder-mystery with a biting perspective on Victorian-era values. She had been in line for one of two big young female roles in the production. Having signed up for a job overseas, she let it pass. By the time that job fell over, the other roles on Hansom Cab were cast, but a smaller one was available. It required hours of burlesque training, as well as prosthetics.

Oddly, given her string of recent roles, McGahan professes to have no radar for successful shows.

''I take those jobs day by day. I love my job, I go in with a good attitude, but I react entirely to that day's shooting, to my character's progression in the scene. Later I think, 'How did everyone else go?''' Anyway, McGahan says, it's not about predicting how well a show will do.

''It's about what you're giving out to an audience and what that creative process does to help you grow. If you get a lot out of what you do, you can't really fail.''

Scared Spice Mel B's pap AVO

Mel B and husband Stephen Belafonte. Source: The Daily Telegraph

Jonathan Marshall, The Sunday Telegraph, reports

Spice Girl Mel B has taken out an AVO against a prominent celebrity paparazzo who allegedly threatened to kill her husband during a blow-up on Sydney Harbour.

Mel Brown and her husband Stephen Belafonte complained to Rose Bay police that Sydney photographer Jamie Fawcett used a boat on the city's harbour last Thursday to create "big waves" which endangered the X Factor judge, who was in a kayak.

Mr Fawcett, who will appear at Waverley Local Court on Thursday to defend allegations contained in the interim AVO, said last night: "I am happy to have the accusations ... tested by a magistrate in due course."

Documents obtained exclusively by The Sunday Telegraph allege Mr Fawcett used a rented boat to harass the couple and their personal assistant Luke Meakins while they were "relaxing" on their 13.5m launch, Time Out, at renowned nudist spot Cobblers Beach.

"Whilst the trio were anchored ... Brown has seen the defendant Fawcett hiding behind a rock on a beach looking over at the trio with a camera in his hand," the application says.

The trio claimed they travelled by boat to three other beaches in a bid to "escape" Mr Fawcett.

At 4pm, the documents allege the group returned to a mooring outside the celebrities' Fitzwilliam Rd, Vaucluse, home. "Fawcett has come up alongside them in his smaller boat at the time."

Mr Fawcett was allegedly two or three metres away at the time. Brown and Mr Meakins then left their boat, using a kayak. Belafonte remained on the luxury vessel.

"Fawcett has started circling (Brown and Mr Meakins) on the kayak, causing medium-sized waves, almost knocking the pair off the kayak."

The documents allege Belafonte saw what Mr Fawcett was doing and yelled out to him: "Why are you making such big waves - what if either of them can't swim?"

Mr Fawcett allegedly responded: "F ... you, I know about you, you duck killer."

"What are you talking about? You're obsessed, are you a psycho (sic)?" Belafonte allegedly asked.

Mr Fawcett is accused of then saying to Belafonte: "You don't know who you are f ... ing with, I will kill you."

The court will be told an offensive dialogue was then exchanged between the two men.

The documents claim Mr Fawcett constantly harasses the family to take images which he sells to magazines and newspapers around the world.

Mr Fawcett said: "I consider the application for the AVO an abuse of process being used to try and control the professional activities of a long-established media photographer."

Photographs of the star pair can fetch tens of thousands of dollars.

Brown and Belafonte told police if they do not get a permanent AVO against Mr Fawcett, which would prohibit him coming within 200 metres of them, he "may cause serious problems and/or injury ... due to his negligent behaviour".

The Sunday Telegraph understands the AVO comes at the end of a long-standing bitter relationship between Brown, Belafonte and Sydney paparazzo.

In September seven police officers attended an altercation outside a cake shop in the seaside suburb of Watsons Bay when Belafonte accused Mr Fawcett of assaulting him.

No charges were laid and Mr Fawcett hired lawyers following the incident to warn Belafonte about making false allegations and defamatory remarks.

Aussie actor Alex O'Loughlin and girlfriend welcomes baby boy

Hawaii Five-O star Alex O'Loughlin and girlfriend Malia Jones have become parents with Malia giving birth to a baby boy. Picture: John Sciulli/WireImage Source: Supplied

The Daily Telegraph reports

Hawaii 5-0 star Alex O'Loughlin and his girlfriend, surfer and model, Malia Jones, have welcomed a son.

Us Weekly reports that the Australian-born star and Jones have been dating since January. O'Loughlin has a 15-year-old son, Saxon, from a previous relationship, while Jones has a three-year old named Spike.

No word yet on what the child has been named.

O'Loughlin, 36, is currently shooting the third season of Hawaii 5-0. Jones, 35, has appeared in magazines like Sports Illustrated and Esquire, as well as commercials for Coca-Cola and V05 shampoo.

O'Loughlin previously dated actor Holly Valance for four years until the pair broke up in 2009.

Axel Whitehead and Samara Weaving remain close friends after separating

Actor Alex Whitehead. Source: The Daily Telegraph

Amy Harris and Joel Christie, The Daily Telegraph, reports

Home and Away's Axel Whitehead has spoken for the first time of his split with former castmate Samara Weaving after Confidential reported the couple went their separate ways recently.

The high-profile twosome confirmed romance rumours back in July though it's understood their relationship - which blossomed on set - fizzled after a few months.

But it seems there are no hard feelings between the pair with Whitehead describing Weaving as a "great, great friend".

"Samara and I have a great amount of respect for each other and I think we'll always be very close," Whitehead said, adding that there was no one new in his life despite being spied recently with an attractive brunette.

"Nope. I'm definitely single," he said.

Meanwhile, the actor and occasional musician will have something to keep his mind off the break-up over the next two weeks - he is planning a solo motorbike ride through central Australia which he says was inspired by Ewan McGregor's famous road flick Long Way Down.

"I've managed to get a two-week holiday break which is great and this is something that I have wanted to do for a really long time. And I am so, so excited," he said.

Danielle Spencer to make debut as a single woman at Melbourne Cup's Birdcage

Danielle Spencer. Picture: Rohan Kelly. Source: The Daily Telegraph

Amy Harris and Joel Christie, The Daily Telegraph, report

Newly-separated Danielle Spencer is set to make her debut as a singleton in Melbourne next week, with the singer and mum-of-two understood to be eyeing an appearance at the Melbourne Cup's famed Birdcage during the Spring Carnival.

It will come almost a month after her appearance at Royal Randwick's Super Saturday - two days prior to news of her marriage breakdown going public. At the time onlookers said Spencer looked "uneasy" and kept to herself on the day.

Her appearance as a newly-single woman will no-doubt be a major media drawcard in Melbourne.

The petite blonde will join a stellar cast of celebrities at the Cup, which is shaping up to become to the biggest Spring Carnival in years.

Among the social elite confirmed to attend are actresses Nicole Kidman, Kim Cattrall, Rose Byrne, Ashley Madekwe, Sophie Monk and Carmen Electra.

Racing enthusiasts Prince Charles and Camilla will also present the Melbourne Cup to the winner on the day.

Charles will also celebrate his 64th birthday while travelling Down Under.

The festivities look set to be Spencer's first major appearance since news of her split from Russell Crowe which made international headlines and instantly shone the spotlight on her former Dancing With The Stars partner Damian Whitewood who, in turn, denied any involvement.

Spencer is yet to comment on her separation from Crowe and neither she nor the Gladiator star have been linked to a third party, with Spencer seen only with a female pal in the wake of the break-up. Crowe's only response has been made via his Twitter page, with the actor thanking a fan for her message of support.

The Australian Women's Weekly takes a bow as Hugh Jacksman does an encore

Hugh Jackman on stage/ Source: AP

 

The Daily Telegraph reports

A lot can happen in four years. If you're Hugh Jackman, you can do a one-man show on Broadway, host the Oscars, put your hands and feet in the Hollywood Walk of Fame, appear in seven movies and film another three.

So it was no surprise for many a brow to be furrowed in magazine land upon the release of the Australian Women's Weekly with Jackman on the cover.

Despite the fact he's the first man to appear on the front of the masthead since the 1990s, the photo chosen is from a shoot the Wolverine star did four years ago.

Taken by photographer Nick Leary, a shot from the series first appeared on the cover of GQ in December 2008, with the editor of that magazine Nick Smith joking that it "looks familiar".

"The colouring and the layout is very similar, but it's a great cover so it makes sense for it to be used again," Smith said. "I guess we did it right the first time."

AWW editor Helen McCabe yesterday said she was "very aware it was the GQ image".

"I sent Nick a big thank you because as I said to him that I believe imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," she said.

The interview with Jackman, meanwhile, sees the actor open up about the day his mother walked out on his family without saying goodbye.

The father-of-two was eight at the time and his mum Grace sent a letter the next day explaining what she's done.

"The thing I never felt, and I know this might sound strange, I never felt that my mum didn't love me," he said.

"I've spoken about it at length with her since and I know she was struggling. She was in hospital after I was born suffering from post-natal depression."

As a parent, Jackman said he understands the pressure.

"There comes a certain point in life when you have to stop blaming other people for how you feel or the misfortunes in your life," he said.

Hugh Jackman on the cover of The Australian Women's Weekly. Source: The Daily Telegraph

Kylie Minogue reinvents hits with new album The Abbey Road Sessions

Kylie Minogue's latest album, The Abbey Road Sessions, features some of her biggest hits reinvented as torch songs and orchestral pieces. Source: Supplied

Cameron Adams, The Daily Telegraph, reports

After 25 years on the job, Kylie Minogue rarely gets flustered during interviews.

Minogue's communal 12-month celebration of her 25th anniversary in music (christened K25) has seen the singer request fans to tweet 'blast from the past' photos to share with her followers.

Last month, mid-interview, Minogue was handed one such vintage photo - circa 1985. That's even pre-Charlene.

"It was a black and white picture from ('80s TV show) The Henderson Kids," Minogue, 44, laughs.

"I genuinely thought 'Who is that? That's me. Oh my God'. There's been some crackers."

Minogue's been poring through more upmarket visuals for Kylie/Fashion, a book due next month.

It's a more high-end blast from the past.

"Imagine if I put out a glossy, chic, iconic fashion book. And then Kylie: Blast From the Past, with every dodgy moment I've ever had. It might be bigger than the other book ..."

Trawling through her past has been a consistent theme for K25. Minogue's Anti-Tour was something no pop star at her level has ever done - ditch the hits and perform only B-sides, forgotten album tracks and rarities. With no costume changes, water fountains or dancers in sight, it also showcased her vocals.

Some critics were surprised Minogue can actually do what she's made a living from for the last 25 years - sing.

K25 now spawns Minogue's most vocally driven release to date - The Abbey Road Sessions.

It features her biggest hits, reinvented as everything from orchestral pieces to the early Stock Aitken Waterman single Never Too Late reborn as a jazzy torch song.

"(Producer) Steve Anderson and myself have been hatching this plan, or at least this fantasy, for years and years," Minogue says.

"Unless you're a fan and you follow everything I do you wouldn't be aware I sang (jazz singer Blossom Dearie's) Try Your Wings on (UK TV show) Jools Holland or little things dotted throughout the past.

"This album feels like it has come at the right time. I couldn't have recorded it ten years ago, I wouldn't have been as secure in myself to do it."

Minogue says a decade of constant touring has improved her singing. A handful of performances with an orchestra have seen her receive comments on her vocals.

"It's ironic that it's completely the opposite to what people think. I've had people being so impressed and saying 'I didn't know you could sing like that' and they think it's so much more difficult doing an album like this than singing a pop song on stage with everything and the kitchen sink.

"I can guarantee you it's not. It's the opposite. You can focus on a song, tell the story, use everything that I've learnt and not try to be anything other than myself. That's the way it was for this album. And that's the way it is now in general. I just do what I do."

It's a different, more relaxed Kylie Minogue in 2012. She's re-written the rules with K25 by releasing one-off singles (Time Bomb) and enjoyed a tour where the more obscure a song was, the better.

"Something has changed," Minogue admits. "With Anti Tour I was on cloud nine, it felt so liberating. I love big tours I can't wait to do the next one, but they're so full-on.

"God forbid you get sick or get a throat infection. The pressure on my shoulders on tour is immense. To come up with the concept and do Anti Tour, I absolutely loved it. Vocally I wasn't stressed about anything. Perhaps that's had a lasting impact, I'd like to think it has.

"But then again I didn't have to worry about dashing off stage and wearing a costume I can't breathe in and heels I can't walk in and flying on an angel. All the things that make the other show fantastic, but it was great to just sing."

One guest at Abbey Road was Nick Cave - the pair re-invent their unlikely 1995 duet Where the Wild Roses Grow as a gentle country lament.

"I made a slight fool of myself because I just wanted to keep going to give him hugs, I adore him so much. It struck me how our delivery is so different."

The day Minogue recorded the original was when she met Cave. "I remember him directing me to sing it less, to talk it and be very, very fragile. That was the first time I delivered a song like that."

The song was a turning point for Minogue - she spent the '90s shaking off her shiny pop image. Recording a track where Cave kills her, for an album called Murder Ballads, was something few saw coming. She even wound up at the Big Day Out performing the song with Cave.

"In that period there was a lot of people being post-modern and ironic," Minogue says. "Had someone else asked me to do something like that I would have been suspicious and hesitant. But (ex-boyfriend) Michael (Hutchence) had mentioned to me his friend Nick wanted to work with me, so I knew he was genuine."

The album also includes Flower, a song Minogue wrote while recovering from cancer treatment. It was recorded for her X album, but ditched by her record label. "Steve (Anderson) and I say it's the little song that could," Minogue says.

It's also her most personal lyric. "It's like a love letter to the child I may or may not ever have," she admits. "I was coming out of treatment where you're told 'We can't determine what your future's going to be, this is what you're up against.' I knew I had to be realistic but hopeful as well.

"Without sounding too cosmic or out there I just felt like there's a spirit there. I don't know whether it will become anything else or not. It was something I had to get out of my system.

"It's a weird one to talk about. I'm consistently asked 'When are you going to have children?' and I hate the question. But now I've got a song that is pretty much about that. The song is still a question. It's a question I don't know the answer to."

This year has seen Minogue score glowing reviews for her film work - something that can't be said for some of her previous celluloid efforts Streetfighter and Biodome.

Her role in Holy Motors has her plotting a return to acting.

"I had no idea Holy Motors would do this for me," she says. "It's made me a little bit hungry for more ..."

Until then there's still the business end of K25.

She's made three trips to the studio for "tentative steps" towards her next album, and will end 2012 in Sydney as the creative ambassador for the New Year's Eve celebrations with boyfriend Andres Velencoso in tow.

"There won't be a performance, sadly I'm not going to be propelled off the top of the Sydney Harbour bridge with a head-dress with sparklers attached. But I'll be there and the spirit will be amazing.

"It's a poetic wrap up of this year. If we're still standing at the end of K25 it'll be a miracle. I don't know what will happen next year. Maybe we'll have a communal meltdown or a depression. I might just leg it to Thailand for a month and wear a sarong: K25's done me in."


Read Kylie/Fashion (Thames & Hudson) out November 12

 

Robert Pattinson hides his amber eyes as he flies out of Australia

Actor Robert Pattinson. Source: Getty Images

The Daily Telegraph reports

He may have been leaving Sydney but New York was the only place on Robert Pattinson's mind yesterday when the Twilight star flew out of Australia after a whirlwind promo tour.

Pattinson strode through Sydney International Airport sporting a New York beanie and his requisite dark sunglasses - an accessory the actor utilised a lot during his visit, and Confidential may know why.

Like his famed Twilight alter ego Pattinson proved quite the the nocturnal beast while in town, cutting a swath through the Harbour City's best bars including Hugo's at Kings Cross, the QT Bar in the Gowings Building and, on Wednesday night, the Lo-Fi Bar at Darlinghurst.

And it seems Pattinson took a liking to a local drop while in town. His beer of choice - the Aussie-brewed Coopers.

It's snowing at Homebush for Hugh Jackman on the set of his new Wolverine flick

The set of The Wolverine / Pic: Adam Taylor Source: The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph reports

The countdown is on for the completion of The Wolverine, with the crew working around the clock on the Sydney set to get the $100 million-plus movie across the finish line.

Shooting is scheduled to wrap in Sydney in the coming weeks for the X-Men spin-off and an all-nighter on Wednesday ensured at least one major action sequence was in the can.

The film's star Hugh Jackman was captured walking around the elaborate set, which was constructed inside a carpark in Homebush to look like a snowy village in Japan - where most of the film is based.

The 44-year-old Tony Award winner is reprising his role as clawed amnesiac Logan, however this week it seemed to be his stuntman who was working overtime.

Jackman was seen observing the scene - involving a team of ninjas - but did not appear to be in character.

Principal photography kicked off in Kurnell in July and quickly moved southwest to Picton, which was transformed into a Canadian town.

Production was then shipped to Tokyo and Hiroshima before returning to Oz, with Parramatta recently doubling as a Japanese city.

A sequel to 2009's X-Men Origins:Wolverine, Jackman has promised this movie will right the wrongs of its predecessor.

While commercially successful - it took $375 million worldwide - there was a huge fan backlash about the plot and the overuse of mutant characters.

The next instalment is said to be a more human story, set against a backdrop of WWII.

It's due to be released next July.

Hugh Jackman on the set of The Wolverine / Pic: Adam Taylor Source: The Daily Telegraph