After Being Stalked By Paparazzi ... Julian Snaps Back


It started soon after Julian McMahon moved into his new million dollar home in the Hollywood Hills.

The handsome 28 year old Australian, now starring in the US series Profiler discovered the paparazzi press were stalking him.

"It's happened to me four times in two months,' Julians say, referring to various photographers seen close to his new home and neighborhood.

"I find all kind of stuff so annoying and such an invasion of privacy when I'm at home. Maybe they want me wandering around in my bathers, or they're obviously looking for some shots of me with some woman or nude or all that stuff,' he adds with a flash of anger.

Still the normally laid-back star insists he won't let it spoil his moment in the sun.

Munching on burger and fries at his favorite Hollywood coffee shop, beneath a wall of autographed photos of such stars as Nicholas Cage, Kevin Spacey and Drew Barrymore, Julian allows himself a smile as he tells how a recent audition opposite Harrison Ford brought him full circle.

"I remember seeing Star Wars when I was a kid and thinking I'd love to be able to do something that can carry people away into this fantasy world. It was so cool," he says.

"One day you're dreaming about doing that kind of stuff and the next day you're sitting next to somebody and working with them!"

Julian, son of the former prime minister William McMahon, grew up in the public eye, so knew what the public spotlight was all about, but the tabloid attention that dogged him since his high-profile marriage to Dannii Minogue -- and subsequent divorce last year -- does get under his skin.

'Its obvious that if you want to get into this business and be successful in any way, that's going to happen. So if you don't want it, don't get into it,' he says.

"But when I'm working my ass off, I really hate the fact that people are making money off sly deals."

In Profiler, which is about to enter its second season in the US, Julian plays Detective John Grant, an intense homicide cop teamed with brilliant forensic psychologist Sam Waters (Ally Walker), who has the special skill that allows her to visualise a crime through the eyes of the victim and the killer.

"Grant is a bit of a loner,' Julian says of his alter ego. "But underneath his strong contenance, you have a very sensitive person.

"He's different from me in the fact I would never put my life on the line every day the way he does, but he's similar to me in his passion and drive for what he's doing.

"In the original script, he was a very strongly written character, but I wanted to twist him in a way that was original and different from the other characters so he would be quirky.

"I wanted him to be like a regular kind of guy but with this edgy bravado thing that makes him kind of strange, so that would add a lot of colors to him and you could use them for any number of reasons."

Profiler was initially compared with hits such as the X-Files and Millenium.

"It had nothing to do with the X-Files as far as I was concerned,' Julian says. "But I can understand that comparison, because they're both shot in a dark kind of way and both have bizarre situations and strong scripts."

While Julian spends most of his free time decorating his new home, he is not looking for anyone to share it with him right now.

"It's just me on my own,' he says happily. "I feel I've got a point in my life where I've found real strength in what I'm doing, real security within myself and the way I feel, and I figured something like a house reflects where I'm at."

He adds with horror when asked if he craves a relationship: "I would never go out and look for someone. My marriage didn't work, but that doesn't mean I couldn't have a strong wonderful relationship with somebody else - but nor do I need that, either."