Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster’s reported romance is a classic showbiz tale: when two actors playing pretend love interests take their on-stage romance off-stage. Since rumours of The Music Man co-stars’ real-world romance picked up speed, the most fervent Broadway fans have combed the archives in a bid to figure out when the pair’s on-stage chemistry spiralled into something more. A resurfaced interview from July 2022 has Foster herself giving away the secret to how their real-life love story started.
In an appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan, the 49-year-old dual Tony Award-winning actor said she and Jackman took part in an intimate pre-show ritual nicknamed “carpet chat”. “We hang out in my dressing room before every show and just catch up,” Foster explained. “Somehow we ended up sitting — maybe because my dressing room’s a mess — we sit on the carpet.
” She described the private ritual as a “wonderful thing” that brought them closer as co-workers into “really good friends”. “That’s been one of the best parts of the whole thing, that I’ve made this wonderful new friend.” Foster shared a photo of one of the “carpet chats” to her Instagram in March 2022.
In the 2022 revival of The Music Man — which ran until January 2023 — Jackman played con man Professor Harold Hill and Foster played his leading lady. The musical tells the story tells the story of what happens when Hill arrives in River City, posing as a boys’ band organis.