Hugh Jackman wishes he had been more selective with roles after finding fame

Hugh Jackman wishes he had been more selective with projects at the height of his success.

The Greatest Showman actor's perspective on parenting changed when he filmed Florian Zeller's latest drama The Son, in which he plays a workaholic father struggling to help his depressed child.

Filming the project made him reflect on what he would have done differently as a parent to Oscar, 22, and Ava, 17, and he admitted he would have accepted fewer roles at the peak of his success.

"There was a period where things were hitting for me and I felt like: I've got to take this opportunity," he told The Guardian. "But I look back now and I go: you could have just completely chilled out there and everything would have been fine."

He and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness took their children around the world with them as they made movies and Jackman acknowledged that he would have moved them around less, in hindsight.

"But I thought - Deb and I thought - at the time: I'm doing movies; the lesser of two evils is to have everyone together. I'm not 100 per cent sure, but sometimes stability may have been more beneficial," he noted.

The film was an enlightening experience for Jackman - it also helped him realise that it's OK to be open with his children about "what's going on inside of me" and he shouldn't just project "confidence and safety" in their presence.

The Son is in U.K. cinemas from 17 February.