Warrior Woman

Outside of her talent on camera, or behind it,Deborra-leeFurness is a dynamic woman who has worked tirelessly to ensure children the world over are happy, healthy and whole.

- Caroline Robertson

“I only have two speeds — stop and go.” Deborra-lee Furness talks a mile a minute. “I’m a juggler. I do it all. A multitasker.” I believed her as she shared sparkling insights while watching her 13-year-old daughter Ava cook gyoza and prepared for an evening engagement. All this while managing her domestic duties, charity work, acting career, portrait classes, cryotherapy sessions, celebrity spouse, French bulldog, labradoodle, two fish and a guinea pig.

Furness doesn’t do dull. Married in 1996 to Hugh Jackman, she lives a full life in New York’s fun lane. “I like to be in the middle of the action and party.” Even holidays are extraordinary. When asked what kind of vacations she likes, Furness responded with a throaty laugh, “Really, really good ones!” This Aussie actress sucks the marrow out of life. Her upbeat attitude is contagious and overflows into all she does.

Her lust for life is palpable. “Let’s dance!” she says as our chat commences. Furness dances to the beat of her own heart. When something touches her she does something about it, earning herself a recent Tribeca disruptor award for “Badass behaviour for the public good”. Jackman’s touching Instagram comment was: “So proud of my incredible, disrupting, world-changing, heart-filled, extraordinary wife.”

From class clown to change-maker