Julian's a real charmer
by Ivor Davis
New father Julian McMahon is set to go back to work: he's got a lead
role in the spooky hit TV series Charmed, Network Ten's show about
three sexy sisters who happen to be witches.
The title could just as well describe the life of 32 year old actor,
who admits things couldn't be better. He has a gorgeous wife, a
beautiful home, a lovely baby daughter and a new movie with Jeff
Daniel's, Chasing Sleep, due out later this year. So does he agree
his life is charmed.
"I knew you'd ask me that -- I swear I knew," Julian grins. "There's
no doubt I'm a lucky guy, but I don't want to give the impression I
had everything handed to be a on silver platter. I've worked very,
very hard to get where I am. I work my ass off, just like other
actors who want to make it in the business.
"Look at all the A-list actors. They have millions and millions of
dollars. You know how hard they have to work, and you know the
personal sacrifices they've had to make to get there. But you forget
about that kind of stuff."
Indeed, when Julian first came to Hollywood, the son of a former
Aussie prime minister Sir William McMahon was given no advantages.
Nobody knew him or his father. He struggled along with the hundred
other young men all looking for work until he landed a starring role
in the hit drama Profiler.
And while handsome family man Julian continues to climb the
Hollywood ladder, he admits, "It wasn't always easy. It still isn't.
I went to acting class at seven this morning. I work on a script for
hours everyday, go running and do everything I need to do to achieve
what I can do in this business."
He's had to make other sacrifices, not least of which is that his
mother Sonia McMahon has yet to see his two-month-old daughter
Madison Elizabeth, born to his wife Baywatch star Brooke Burns, 22.
"I live in a country without my family. I wish I was with my mother
and I wish the rest of my family could see my little baby girl," he
says.
"We were going to take Madison home, but the doctor said to wait
until she's two months or more. By then, I was working on the show,
but now we hope to bring my mother to see us."
His new role on Charmed (now into its third season) is "great fun,"
he says. He plays Cole Turner, a deputy district attorney, who shows
up at the mansion occupied by three witches, the Halliwell sisters,
played by Shannen Doherty, Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs.
The series deals with the supernatural and Julian says he has mixed
feelings about the topic. "Some days I believe in it, some days I
don't -- depends on which day you catch me. I haven't had that many
dealings with it, but I would certainly never dismiss it."
Following four season on the Seven Network's Profiler, a show that
was constantly in the top ratings, Julian admits he was hesitant to
jump right back into a weekly series, even though this one is
produced by the king of TV series, Aaron Spelling.
"I was a little apprehensive. I spoke to the producers, who had seen
me in Profiler. They told me what they wanted to do with the
character, and I told them what I wanted to do as an actor, and we
came to an agreement. Of all the things I was being asked to do,
this seems to me the greatest opportunity as an actor to express
myself," he says.
"Cole is a very offbeat character. He can be funny, serious and from
week to week viewers will be guessing where he's coming from -- is
he good or bad?"
His co-star Shannen faced a similar mixed reaction in real life, and
kept fans guessing with a reputation as a bit of a hot-head and a
hell raiser during her Beverly Hills 90210 days. Julian says,
"Rumors like that always fly around high profile actors, but she's
an absolute pleasure to work with."
"She became famous pretty quickly when she was quite young, and
everybody deals with that in different ways. It's like the Drew
Barrymore syndrome. Drew became famous when she was seven. She had
to grow up, like the rest of us did, but she had to do it in front
of all of us.
"I've worked with Shannen now a couple of times, and she's nothing
but a sweetheart. The other two are exactly the same. They've also
grown up in the strange environment of the business, but they are
three very down-to-earth women. I have no complaints!" he says.
It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that Julian, too, having
grown up in the spotlight reflecting off his famous father, has his
problems maturing.
"Sure I grew up in the public eye," he agrees, "but it was nothing
compared with Drew and Shannen and the rest of them. It was
Australia, a much smaller country and nobody cares much. I guess you
can screw up a bit more. But also, times were different. I was just
a kid going to school, not a kid who was a big film or TV star. I
grew up in the public eye because of my father and mother. It was a
family affair, people never said, "Who's the kid?"
A big plus, he says, of starring in a show shot in a film studio in
Hollywood, is that he doesn't have to leave Southern California. And
that means adoring dad Julian won't miss Madison growing up.
"That's so important to me," he says. "It's a fun show to work on,
but the big plus is I'm home every night with Brooke and our baby,
and that's a joy. I don't miss too much of her growing up. I'm able
to watch her every single day. It's phenomenal because I know I'm
never going to get this opportunity again."
"She's so beautiful, and I can see her cheeks get chubbier, and the
little movements in her face. I get upset sometimes if I miss that.
Last week, for example, I worked all week -- and in just that week
she had grown. And I felt I'd missed out when Brooke told me, ' You
should have seen her smile,' or 'She did this or that." It sucks
that I missed it when she did those things for the first time."
On the afternoon Julian met Woman's Day, he revealed he'd been up
from 2 am to 5 am with Madison. "I can get by with five hours of
sleep a night. I also change her nappies. You should see me. I'm the
fastest nappy changer in the west!" Julian laughs.