The actor Hugh Jackman, who has played lead roles in X-Men and Les Miserables, describes some of the deep wounds that still drive his life even years later. When he was eight-years-old his mother abandoned him, his father, and Hugh's four elder siblings. When he finally realized that his mother was gone for good, Jackman was too frightened to enter his house alone. In a 2013 interview he said, "I was terrified because I was the first one home every day. I used to walk home from school and wait outside. I just wouldn't go in."

His father, Christopher, seemed to compensate for the pain by working long hours as an accountant. Jackman said, "My father could only come to one [school sports] game a year because he had five kids, and on Saturday he had to shop. If my father was there, it would be 50 percent greater. Having his approval is something that still drives me."

Jackman admits his ongoing struggles with fear, anxiety, and people-pleasing. Although his ambition to be a star has quieted, it hasn't entirely disappeared. He said,

I saw a play in Sydney, and in the notes they had this quote from Bono that said: "What kind of hole exists in the heart of a person when they need to have 70,000 people scream, 'I love you,' in order to feel fulfilled?" But there is a part of me that wants to please, to be all things to all people.

Possible Preaching Angles: Our Need for Christ—Jackman's struggles show our underlying brokenness—the sin, wounds, bondage, and idolatry that show our need for the gospel. Despite his fame and success, Jackman is still longing for something that can only be satisfied by Christ.