Born in Sydney, New South Wales on July 27, 1968, Julian Dana William McMahon was the second of three children born to former Australian Prime Minister, Sir William McMahon, his wife, Lady Sonia Hopkins McMahon. A graduate of the esteemed Sydney Grammar School, McMahon attended the University of Sydney, where he briefly studied law. Getting more attention for his striking good looks more than anything else, however, McMahon eventually decided to turn to professional modeling. The decision proved to be a wise one indeed; McMahon’s modeling career flourished. Within three years, he became one of Europe’s most sought-after male models.
In the early 1990s, McMahon returned to his native Australia already a well-known commodity, thanks to a Levi Strauss commercial which had won awards worldwide. Turning to acting as his next logical career move, McMahon made his major television debut in "Home and Away" (Seven Network, 1988- ) a long-running primetime serial in Australia. His feature film debut was in the Aussie-made "Exchange Lifeguards/Wet and Wild Summer!" (1992), starring Christopher Atkins and Elliot Gould. By the time the film was released, however, McMahon had already moved to New York to star in the American soap, "Another World" (NBC, 1964-1999). Moving to L.A. in 1994, McMahon found work on stage and in a few low-budget feature films (1996’s "Magenta") before landing his role on "Profiler." He also gained notoriety in the United Kingdom for his two-year marriage to Danni Minogue, sister of pop singer Kylie Minogue (he was later also briefly married to "Baywatch" blonde Brooke Burns).
After "Profiler" concluded, McMahon was immediately snapped up by super-producer Aaron Spelling, who installed him on his hit witchcraft dramedy "Charmed" (WB, 1998-2006) in 2000, playing the half-demon Cole Turner. Growing bored with the role after a couple of seasons, however, McMahon sought out new challenges. As luck would have it, the perfect script landed in his lap – a drama about plastic surgeons called “Nip/Tuck.” Aggressively pursuing the role, McMahon won the producers over with a videotaped reading which the actor shot of himself. The show became an instant hit, bolstered by McMahon's vanity-less performance as the ethically and morally challenged Dr. Christian Troy – a role which the actor constantly nuanced with equal doses of charm, sex appeal, pathos and empathy.
Off the success of the series, McMahon's profile was raised significantly when he was cast as the comic book super villain Dr. Victor Von Doom, the arch-enemy of the "Fantastic Four" (2005). Forced to effectively dispense with his trademark smarmy charm, the direction of the Doom character was generally ill conceived from the get-go, leaving McMahon with a thankless role. He returned to the big screen after season four of “Nip/Tuck” with “Premonition” (2007), playing the husband of a woman (Sandra Bullock) whose foreknowledge of impending events destroys her otherwise perfect domestic life, especially when he dies – supposedly – in a tragic car accident. Meanwhile, McMahon revived Dr. Doom for the inevitable sequel, “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” (2007) for the big summer box office season.