Hugh Jackman opens up about his mother's abandonment

• Hugh Jackman talks about feeling "odd" after his mother left the family

He dances. He sings. He acts. And he's in touch with his feelings.

Hugh Jackman, who stars in December's Les Miserables, says he suffered quite heavily after his mother abandoned him at age 8 and moved back to England. But although it was a grueling experience, he's gotten over it, he tells Australian Women's Weekly, and the two are close. But at the time, it stung.

"One of the main things I remember is that horrible feeling that people were talking about you and looking at you because it was odd for the mother to leave," he tells the publication.

The father of two doesn't have hard feelings. "There comes a certain point in life when you have to stop blaming other people for how you feel or the misfortunes in your life. You can't go through life obsessing about what might have been," he says.

On a happier note, his hotly awaited film opens on Christmas Day.