Hugh Jackman and his mother Grace are enjoying being a family again after years of heartbreak, following her decision to walk out on her son when he was aged just eight.

Enjoying a day out in Manhattan with Hugh’s daughter Ava, 3, mother and son have clearly put the painful past behind them. Friends say that British-based Grace has been happy to help out with the kids while Hugh’s wife, Deborra-Lee, has been in Australia raising awareness of adoption issues. But things weren’t always so easy.

Hugh recalls the pain of arriving home one day from school to find his mother gone. She sent a telegram the following day informing her family that she was returning to her native England, where she raised her daughters Zoe and Sonia.

Her three boys, Hugh, Ian and Ralph, remained in Sydney with their father Chris.

While Hugh confesses that his mum’s sudden departure cast a long shadow over his childhood and teens, he says the passage of time and an increased understanding of the emotional torment she was going through at the time –reported to be undiagnosed postnatal depression - have helped them rebuild their relationship.

“I had some very dark periods as a child but we’ve made peace with each other,” Hugh says. “The bottom line is, I never felt that my mum didn’t love me.

“Now that I’m an adult and have talked to her, I can see there was no other way she could see to solve it at the time.

“My mother was not well. I always hoped she would come back, but I never blamed her for anything that went wrong.

“On some level I understood that she was not in a great way. But it was a big tumultuous change.