Julian McMahon

Julian Dana William McMahon (/ˈdÊ'uːliÉ™n mÉ™kˈmÉ'ːn/; born 27 July 1968) is an Australian actor and model.

McMahon won recognition for his roles in Television dramas, in portrayals of Ben Lucini in the award-winning Australian soap drama Home and Away, and as Christian Troy in the award-winning American drama Nip/Tuck, as well as his appearance in films with leading and supporting roles, in films such as the romantic-drama Magenta (1996), the action-superhero Fantastic Four franchise (2005; 2007), the action-comedy film Red (2010), and the horror-thriller Bait (2012). However, his work in television with Nip/Tuck gave him more success, where the series won an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe. McMahon played the lead role in Nip/Tuck alongside Dylan Walsh, and appeared in all seasons.

McMahon was born in Sydney, Australia, to Sonia McMahon (née Hopkins, later Lady Sonia McMahon) and William McMahon (later Sir William McMahon). Prior to his acting career, McMahon attended the University of Sydney and the University of Wollongong, studying law and economics respectively, but cut his studies short to begin a modelling career, leading up to his carrer in acting.

Despite his father being a prominent politician (later becoming Prime Minister of Australia), McMahon has never expressed any interest in entering politics.

Early life

McMahon was born in Sydney, Australia, the son of (Lady) Sonia McMahon (née Hopkins), a Socialite and fashion icon, and (Sir) William McMahon, a prominent Australian Politician. His father was an Member of the Australian Parliament, and was a high-ranking minister in the 24-year Liberal Government for many years before Julian's birth (let alone before his marriage to Sonia McMahon). William McMahon became the 20th Prime Minister of Australia in March 1971, when Julian was 2 years old. His mother, left their 3 children in the care of a nanny to be with him in Canberra. He has an older sister, Melinda, and a younger sister, Deborah. McMahon is of Irish descent through his father.

McMahon was educated at Sydney Grammar School, a private boys school - his father's education. He briefly studied law at the University of Sydney and economics at the University of Wollongong. McMahon began to find no interest his studies at the university, and began his modelling career. He became known as a model in various fashion capitals throughout the world, such as Milan, London, New York City, Rome, and Paris.

In addition to his modelling career, he began his early acting career in commercials, including a commercial for Levi Strauss jeans, McMahon starred in the successful Australian television soap Home and Away, playing the soldier Ben Lucini, from 1989 to 1991, alongside Dannii Minogue, his future wife (now ex-wife). He was also one of several Home and Away cast-members to star in a stage musical about the soap, which toured the United Kingdom in 1991. In other television series', McMahon has also appeared as Christian Troy in the American drama series, Nip/Tuck, for 100 episodes - the entire series. Nip/Tuck was nominated for 45 awards, and won one Golden Globe and one Emmy Award.

Career

McMahon appeared in the film Wet and Wild Summer! (aka Exchange Lifeguards) in 1992, and appeared with his then soon-to-be wife Dannii Minogue's music videos for her 1993 hits "This Is It" and "This Is the Way". His first role on American television was on the daytime soap opera Another World, playing Ian Rain from 1993 to 1995. He also went on to play Dr. Michael Walsh in the movie Magenta in 1996, Sheriff Hayes in In Quiet Night (aka You Belong to Me Forever) in 1998, George Simian in the psychological thriller Chasing Sleep in 2000, and David Cameron in the made-for-TV movie Another Day in 2001.

From 1996 to 2000, he starred in all four seasons of the NBC drama Profiler as Agent John Grant. Then McMahon joined the cast of the WB's supernatural hit show Charmed, playing the conflicted half-demon/half-human Cole Turner from 2000 to 2003; he returned for one episode in 2005. Following Charmed, McMahon's next role was playboy plastic surgeon Christian Troy on the FX series Nip/Tuck. He was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor â€" Television Series Drama in 2005 for his performance.

During this time, McMahon also portrayed supervillain Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four, the 2005 film adaptation of the comic book series of the same name. The film was a box office success, and McMahon reprised his role as Doom in the sequel in 2007.

He also appeared alongside Sandra Bullock in the 2007 supernatural thriller Premonition. McMahon co-starred in 2011 with Milla Jovovich in Julien Magnat's thriller Faces in the Crowd.

Personal life

McMahon has never expressed interest in entering politics, despite his father's prominence in Australian politics.

McMahon jokingly expressed in an interview that his mother was "a very scary lady", because she would visit him on the set of his fims and patronise him when he finished filming a scene.

McMahon married former Home and Away co-star Dannii Minogue in January 1994, and divorced in mid-1995 after less than two years of marriage. Referring to the divorce, Minogue stated that it was her "biggest regret and biggest downfall", and later posed nude in an Australian edition of Playboy, commenting "I just had a marriage break-up. Most women go to the hairdressers â€" I did Playboy. I chose the photographer, the location, what I did or didn't want to wear and everything else about the pictures. I found it a really liberating, empowering experience". The edition featuring Minogue sold out in under four days and became one of the best-selling editions in Australia.

In 1999, McMahon married former Baywatch star Brooke Burns, and had a daughter - Madison - in June 2000. They divorced in 2001. Burns later became engaged to Bruce Willis, who worked alongside McMahon in the 2010 film Red. Burns and Willis later called-off the engagement.

In 2014, McMahon was married for the third time, to Kelly Paniagua - his girlfriend of 11 years after being engaged for 6 months - at Lake Tahoe in California. They were reportedly engaged during a flight to Paris.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Julian McMahon at the Internet Movie Database
• Julian McMahon on Yahoo movies