Hugh Jackman ‘Ditched a Lot of People in His Life’ and ‘His Old Circle Is Worried About Him’

Hugh Jackman is talking a good game about turning his life around via meditation, but friends of the actor are worried he’s in a dark place.

“It’s clear Hugh has fallen into a far looser lifestyle,” a source exclusively tells Closer. “He might show up for the occasional night out with Ryan Reynolds, but in reality, he’s got these new theater buddies that he’s spending most of his time with.”

The 56-year-old actor, who last starred on Broadway in The Music Man, recently opened up about his experience with meditation and said that he started to do it because he thought it would “help” him with his acting.

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According to the Closer source, “He’s ditched a lot of people in his life that were steady influences and seems to be putting his whole focus on this new crowd. They’re all a lot younger than him and pretty wild.”

The single actor, who is back on the market after splitting from wife Deborra-Lee Furness last year after 27 years of marriage, is raising red flags.

“Hugh can be very easily influenced, and he can be quite naïve,” says the source. “So of course his old circle is worried about him. It’s great that he has this new interest in transcendental meditation, but he needs a good deal more than that because he’s very burnt out after all the stress with [the release of this year’s] Deadpool.”

The source notes that Hugh “really put himself through the ringer” for Deadpool & Wolverine, which costars his pal Ryan, 48, and grossed more than $1 billion worldwide.

“He needs to slow down and go somewhere quiet and peaceful away from the busyness of New York City that’s kind of consuming him right now,” the source says.

Last month, a separate source told Closer that the superhero Marvel film “took everything” out of him.

“It’s the biggest hit he’s ever had, and he’ll get to make any movie he wants in the near future,” said the source. However, the process was arduous.

The highly successful film was released July 26. However, it was in development for years, and it took an extraordinarily long time to film after production began in May 2023. Shooting was suspended that July due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, and it resumed in November before finally wrapping up in January 2024.

According to the source, the Oscar nominee “gave this movie almost two full years of his life when you factor in the training, the strike-delayed shoot and of course all the marketing work he had to do.”

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For his costar, however, “That stuff comes naturally,” said the source. “That’s why Ryan led those efforts. But it’s a lot harder for Hugh, especially at 55, to keep up.”

Due to all the hard work put into Deadpool & Wolverine, “That’s why you’re not seeing him dive into another new project or franchise — or even another movie as Wolverine — just yet,” the source explained. “Ryan Reynolds may be the Energizer Bunny, but Hugh is spent and needs to recharge his batteries. That’s putting it mildly.”