"Cole Face"
XPOSE' - January, 2001 Issue #52



This season on Charmed, there's a new man in Phoebe's
life. The only problem is, Cole Turner is a demon with a
sinister plan for the Halliwells. Steven Eromo talked to
the familiar face of Julian McMahon.
Recently, Australian actor Julian McMahon has been
behaving badly -- very badly. Well, at last in front of
the cameras. The former soap hunk and ex-Detective John
Grant on NBC's crime thriller Profiler has joined the
cast of the bewitching WB series Charmed. He co-stars as
Assistant District Attorney Cole Turner, a man with a
nose for crime and an eye for the ladies.
Cole has his sights set on one of the Halliwell sisters,
Phoebe. The fact that she and her two siblings, Prue and
Piper, are witches does not deter him in the least.
Actually, the ADA has a secret or two of his own to
hide, one of which is he is a demon. The forces of
darkness have sent Cole to get close to Phoebe and,
among other things, steal the Book of Shadows. No the
most suitable of would-be suitors! Despite his evil
ways, McMahon says his character is not all rotten to
the core.
"Yes, Cole is a bad guy, but he's much more than that,"
insists the actor. "There's so many different facets to
the character, which is one of the things that attracted
me to the role in the first place. He's certainly not an
easy individual to play. On the one hand, Cole is a man
who, after a very long time, is finding and exploring
his emotional connections with other human beings.
Conversely, he's also a demon who is setting people so
they will fall, and fall hard. Cole's 'mission' becomes
complicated, though, when he starts to allow his
emotions to get the better of him.
"I told you he's a complex person," laughs McMahon. "The
great thing is that the first eight episodes of Charmed
unfold this season, there are certain dynamics which
reveal some of the character's many sides. One thing I
made sure to do right from the start is not to have Cole
appear too demonic. I need him to have a humane quality.
Even when Cole does something bad I want him to do it in
such a way that allows viewers to understand why he did
what he did. After all, we've all made the wrong
decision at one time or another in our lives. I want
people to think, 'OK, what Cole is doing isn't nice, but
we kind of get where he's coming from.' I hope that
makes sense. So he's definitely a well rounded
individual, at least when it comes to demons," he jokes.

The middle child of three, McMahon was born and raised
Down Under in Sydney. After graduating high school, he
enrolled in the University of Sydney to study law. It
was there that someone approached him and asked if he
would like to do some fashion modeling and commercial
work. "I shot two commercials and thought, 'Wow, this is
great.
I get to muck around with all these cool people and get
paid for it,' Suddenly my career aspirations changed."
McMahon left school and traveled to the United States
and then Europe, where he continued working as a model.
"I was only 17 when I started in the business," notes
the actor. "The experience of traveling around the world
at such a young age was unbelievable. There I was in
Paris or Milan or some other cosmopolitan city doing a
runway show. It was a blast. At the same time, it was
such an eye opener for me in terms of what it now meant
to be an adult. It was up to me to get my assignments
and make enough money to live on. However, that was
nothing new for me. When I was nine years old my parents
wouldn't give me extra pocket money, so I went out and
found a job. I think that really helped me and gave me
the courage to go after what I wanted."
The actor eventually returned home to shoot a TV
commercial for Levi's jeans. It was a year before the
advert eventually aired, and by then McMahon was back in
Europe and busy modeling. "At one point I flew back to
Australia to do a couple of other jobs," recalls
McMahon. "While there, I was asked to go and meet with
some casting agents. This was all new to me. Up to then
I'd just appeared in commercials and print ads. Now,
here was this woman asking me if I'd like to do a TV
series.
"I didn't know it at the time, but my Levi's commercial
was a huge hit in my country. everyone recognized my
face and who I was. Suddenly, I was auditioning for this
TV show and was being offered the lead. Believe me, this
wasn't in the grand scheme of things," he says. "If
someone had told me 10 years ago that I would be this
(acting), I would have said, 'You're joking,' yet here I
am."
McMahon spent the next year and a half portraying the
wealthy heir Kane Edmonds on the Australian TV series
Power and Passion. He was then cast as Ben Lucini on the
hit daytime soap opera Home and Away. The actor later
reprised his role on the British stage in a musical
version of the program. After playing the lead opposite
Elliot Gould in the feature film Exchange Lifeguards,
McMahon moved to the States to pursue acting jobs. In
1992, he was cast as Ian Rain on the NBC soap opera
Another World. He left the series two years later to do
more theater and film work before landing the role of
John Grant on Profiler.
"That was a fun job," says McMahon. "A part of me felt
sad when Profiler was canceled. After all, I'd been with
the show since the beginning and it was a big chapter in
my life. At the same time, I knew it couldn't last
forever. The cast and crew had worked together for four
seasons and I think the series had a great run. I was
honored to be involved in it and to have played a
character like John Grant."
According to the actor, his work on Profiler was, in
part, responsible for his being hired for Charmed. "When
I finished the series, I put together a videotape of my
best scenes from it and the other projects I'd done. I
sent it off to a number of people, including the head
casting director at Warner Bros. I'd met with her a
couple of years previously and she liked my work. She
knew that the role of Cole Turner on Charmed was coming
up and sent my tape off to its executive producers. I
guess they must have liked something they saw because
they called me in and offered me the part."
"In a way it was a career stepping stone for me, because
I had never before gotten a job without auditioning. I
don't know if that's a good or bad," laughs the actor.
"I kind of feel as if I got the part without doing the
work, but I don't think they would have given me this
chance if they didn't think I was up to it. Ironically,
I was in the running for a couple of other things when I
was offered Charmed. However, once I spoke to Brad Kern
(exec. producer) and James Conway (consulting producer),
I realized this was an opportunity to really express
myself as an actor and, hopefully, help create a
memorable character."
In the third season opener of Charmed, The Honeymoon's
Over, Prue (Shannen Doherty) and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano)
save Inspector Darryl Morris (Dorian Gregory) from being
murdered by a mortal protected by a supernatural entity
called the Guardian. To keep their witchcraft secret,
they must lie to Cole who is then forced to let the
suspect go free. With the sister's help the ADA is
eventually able to bring the accused to trial. This is
when Cole's nasty alter ego begins to rear its evil
head.
"That first episode was a pretty important one for me,"
explains McMahon. "I needed to convince the audience
that Cole was just another ADA who was interested in
getting the bad guy. I didn't for a second want anyone
to think, 'Gee, there's something weird or unusual about
this guy.' I wanted them to believe the opposite, which
was, "Here's this new guy who's come along and, oh yes,
there's a spark between him and Phoebe.' Of course, at
the end of the episode all hell breaks loose and you're
like, "Oh, my God! What's happening?' So I hope I
succeeded in keeping people in the dark about Cole, at
least for a time."
In the following episode, Magic Hour, Cole just happens
to bump into Phoebe and Piper (Holly Marie Combs) at a
bookstore. He uses his powers to switch purchases with
Phoebe and find out where she and her sisters live. It
is obvious the ADA/demon is enamored of Phoebe, but what
does he have planned for her?
"Here are two people who, no matter what, were destined
to come together," says the actor. "There are so many
ways this relationship can go. My feeling is that Cole
and Phoebe are going to come to see each other for who
they truly are. This, in turn, will create more passion,
more love, and, in the process, make them more accepting
of each other. Now, I'm not writing the stories, so I
don't know what our writers have up their sleeves. I can
tell you that there's an episode coming up, I believe
it's number seven, featuring Cole and Phoebe this is
full of conflict, love, passion, hate, etc. They really
push each other's buttons! I think it's safe to say that
their relationship is going to be like one big rollar
coaster ride this season."
Unfortunately for Cole, both Prue and Piper are
suspicious of him and his intentions toward their
sister. "They're not thrilled having him around. There's
a feeling of, 'OK, you're stepping on our turf and we
don't appreciate it.' Things certainly heat up as the
show goes on. I'm sure they'll eventually confide in
Inspector Morris, which will result in him and Cole
butting heads. We say this happen briefly in the first
story, but that's been it so far. I think the writers
what to develop Cole's and Phoebe's relationship before
anyone tries to come between them. So you'll just have
to keep watching to find out what happens next."
Besides Charmed McMahon can be seen in the movie Chasing
Sleep, which is currently making the film festival
rounds. No matter the medium - TV, film or theater - the
actor is always prepared to do whatever it takes to turn
in the best possible performance. "The bigger the
challenge, the greater the effort I need to put into a
part," he says. "That's why I love playing Cole so much.
Most of the roles an actor is cast in tend to be very
black and white, but not so with him. Nothing is exactly
how it appears with Cole, and that means I can take him
and the viewers on a journey each week. Together we can
learn a bit more about the character and, just maybe,
ourselves. I feel so blessed, I really do. This role
came along at the right time in my life. I can't wait to
go to work every day. Not many people can say that, and
I'm grateful to be one of those that can."