Hugh Jackman jumps around in his sleep like a ''fish out of water''.

The 46-year-old actor is known as ''Guppy'' - a tropical fish, also known as a rainbow fish - to his friends because of the active way he is when he settles down for a doze, and joked his wife Deborra-lee Furness has had to dodge out of the way on occasions to avoid his flailing around.

He said: ''I am nicknamed Guppy because of the way I sleep, like a guppy out of water, if you've ever seen a fish out of water they flop around.

''If you ever see me on a plane or sleeping in a hallway or wherever then I'm literally jumping around like a guppy out of water.

''It's sort of embarrassing and it's been slightly dangerous for my wife at times, she's had to duck if I'm dreaming.

''The way I sleep is not normal.''

The star sports a fetching mullet hairstyle for his latest movie 'Chappie' and joked his latest look sparked some ''good memories'' for his wife because he also had a similar hairdo when he met her on the set of 1995 Australian TV series 'Correlli'.

Speaking to ITV's 'Good Morning Britain', he added: ''When I met my wife, it was my first job ever, I had a mullet. It was 'Correlli'.

''It was not a good look, still isn't a good look, but she did fall in love with a man with a mullet so it was just a nice flashback 19 years later.

''On the record, she does not think it's a good look.

''Somewhere deep down in the DNA it was bringing back some good memories. We've been together a while.''