These Days, Julian Calls Hollywood Home
By Brett de Hoedt

Life is sweet for Julian McMahon. His career is going gangbusters, he's positively in love with his new home in the Hollywood Hills and he's happily - well reasonably happily - single. In fact, things are going so well for the handsome Aussie that he's never coming back home - not permanently anyway.
In Australia for a hit and run visit to promote his smash US series Profiler, Julian tells New Idea that he still loves visiting his homeland.
"I love seeing my mum and my sister," he says in an accent that more LA than NSW. "I hang out with my mates, play pool ... I still have lots of buddies from my school days. We just pick up where we left off."
But while Sydney might be his old stomping ground, it's Los Angeles that has stolen his heart.
Julian, who has been based in the US for the past five years, puts it this way: "I consider myself pretty much American oriented and that's the way it goes. I'll come back to Australia to relax, but I think I'll stay in the US. It's been real good."
So chuffed is Julian with American life that he recently bought a house there, which he jokingly describes as: "One of the great bachelor pads in the northern or southern hemispheres." With two stories of luxury living, plus pool, terrace and panoramic views, he may not be far wrong.
"I keep on thinking someone's gonna tap me on the shoulder and tell me to get the hell out of there," he says.
However Julian explains his tastes isn't very "bachelor-paddish.. above all else, I like to sit down and be comfortable."
Not that Julian has much time for sitting. He's about to start shooting the second season of Profiler. The series shown on the Seven Network at 8:30pm on Wednesdays, is the hottest Saturday night show for NBC in America in 35 years and is watched by more than 70 million people. With that, kind of exposure, Julian is finding new doors opening to him all the time. He says: "You get sent a lot of scripts and I've been auditioning for some people I've been admiring for years. I walk in the room and think, 'Oh my god I can't believe I'm here'."
Meanwhile, Julian must contend with the grueling Profiler schedule where 20 hour days are not uncommon. "It's pretty filthy," he says. " But it's a happy set, which is extraordinary considering the time we spend together."
It's a lifestyle Julian says has its rewards: "Personally, you've got to maintain stability in yourself, but a job like this helps. That's a wonderful thing for an actor -- the emotional and financial stability that goes along with the part."
It's a part Julian fought hard to win, going through 18 auditions to land the plum role. Julian says he got the part because he and his character, Detective John Grant, have a lot in common: "There are a lot of similarities... his determination, his passion, his eye for women and his arrogance - not arrogance but his belief in his own ability."
Does Julian's hectic schedule leave time for romance? "Is there any romance to report?" he ponders. "You know, I wish there was in a way, but in a way I'm glad there isn't. I've been in long relationships for a long time and I've spent the last two years concentrating more on myself, which has been really fulfilling. I think that's part of the reason why I am where I am at the moment."
Julian says he does a fair bit of sitting around the home. "If I'm working, I pretty much come home, watch the telly and crash. I don't really hit the town that much. I might go down the road to the local and toss back a couple of beers, but then I head back home." By home, of course, Julian means Hollywood.