Quotes from Hugh Jackman’s interview with the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet hit his Greek fans hard.
According to Hurriyet, Jackman said his grandfather was an Ottoman and that “I could call myself a Turk, since my grandfather immigrated to Australia not from Greece, but from the Ottoman lands”.
For many years he was believed to be of Greek descent, as he himself has told Neos Kosmos and Greece’s Star Channel journalist Elgka Ntaifa back in 2013.
“It is true that I have Greek roots,” said the actor at a media junket promoting the upcoming instalment of the Wolverine movie franchise at the time.
“Two generations ago the name of my family was Bellas, and I feel that I am a Greek by blood.”
In the interview with Star TV, Jackman even said he was ready and willing to take up any acting opportunities there may be in Greek film.
However, what he reportedly stated to the Turkish media clashes with his interview with Neos Kosmos.
“My father and uncle went to the place where my grandfather emigrated from, and from what they say, that region which is in Greece today belonged to the Ottoman Empire at that time,” Jackman appears to have said to Hurriyet.
“So I am the descendant of an Ottoman grandfather. Do not think that I’m saying this because I’m coming to Turkey, but I am a Turk. Yes, I think I may say that I’m a Turk.”
Jackman also said he is a fan of Turkish cuisine and even prepares Turkish coffee at home with his son.
We are seriously confused.