Julian McMahon

Julian Dana William McMahon (27 July 1968 – 2 July 2025) was an Australian and American actor. He was the only son of Sir William McMahon, a former Prime Minister of Australia. He was best known for his roles as Ben Lucini in Home and Away, Detective John Grant in Profiler, Cole Turner in Charmed, Dr Christian Troy in Nip/Tuck, Doctor Doom in the Fantastic Four duology, Jonah in Runaways and Jess LaCroix in FBI: Most Wanted. His other films include Premonition, Red, and The Surfer. For his performance in Nip/Tuck, McMahon was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Drama Series.

McMahon was born in Sydney, the son of Sonia (née Hopkins), an heiress, socialite and fashion icon and William McMahon, a prominent Australian politician.^[2] His father was a Member of the Australian House of Representatives^[3] and a high-ranking minister in the 23-year Liberal Government for many years before Julian's birth; he became the 20th Prime Minister of Australia on March 10, 1971,^[4] when Julian was two years old.^[2] His mother left their three children in the care of a nanny to be with her husband in Canberra during his Prime Ministership. He had two sisters and was of Irish descent through his father.^[5]

In an interview with the Herald Sun in 2018, McMahon discussed his childhood: "My Dad... was born in 1908. That's a very different time to what it was when he was raising me. He must have gone through a strange misunderstanding of how you were parented in 1908 versus how you parent in 1972; it would have been so conflicting. Also how you be a husband in that period of time would have been different."^[6]

McMahon was educated at the private, boys-only, Sydney Grammar School,^[7] which his father had attended. As a child, he dreamed of being an army cadet and playing rugby.^[8] McMahon briefly studied law at the University of Sydney^[9] and economics at the University of Wollongong.^[10] McMahon began a modelling career working in various fashion capitals in Europe.^[11]

McMahon was working in Europe when his father died in 1988 and returned to Australia for the funeral.^[12] While home, he filmed some Levi's commercials which helped him land a role on the Australian soap opera Home and Away.^[12]

McMahon made his television acting debut in the short-lived daytime soap opera The Power, The Passion, where he played Kane Edmonds.^[13] He joined the cast of Home and Away as soldier Benito "Ben" Lucini in late 1989, with his first episode airing in February 1990.^[13] McMahon chose not to renew his contract, which expired in December 1990 and he departed along with Sharyn Hodgson, who played his on-screen wife Carly Lucini.^[14]

In the early 1990s, McMahon struggled to obtain a work permit for the United States and as a result he missed out on a few roles.^[15] McMahon's big break Hollywood role was on the soap opera Another World when he was cast as Ian Rain in 1993.^[16] The first scene he shot in New York for the show had him emerge from a pool in a speedo at the Cory Mansion.^[15] He remembered the experience as "pretty magical".^[15]

McMahon won recognition for his portrayals in American television dramas, such as Detective John Grant in the crime drama Profiler (1996–2000), Cole Turner in the supernatural drama Charmed (2000–2003) and Dr Christian Troy in the medical drama Nip/Tuck (2003–2010). He also appeared in films with leading and supporting roles, such as Chasing Sleep (2000) alongside Jeff Daniels, Doctor Doom in the Fantastic Four duology (2005 and 2007), Premonition (2007) alongside Sandra Bullock, Red (2010) alongside Bruce Willis, Faces in the Crowd (2011) alongside Milla Jovovich,^[17] and Bait 3D (2012) alongside Sharni Vinson and Phoebe Tonkin.^[18]

According to McMahon, he was one of the actors in the running to replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.^[19] Nip/Tuck garnered him a nomination for the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Drama Series.^[20]

In 2018, McMahon returned to Australia to film Swinging Safari in Queensland, alongside Guy Pearce, Kylie Minogue, Radha Mitchell, Asher Keddie and Jeremy Sims.^[21] The film is set in the 1970s and sees McMahon sport a handlebar moustache.^[21] McMahon and his former sister-in-law Kylie Minogue share an improvised kiss in a scene where couples partner swap.^[21] He stated that he had found it difficult speaking with an Australian accent in the film because the majority of his career he had adapted to performing with an American accent.^[21]

From 2020 to 2022, McMahon starred as Jess LaCroix in the CBS crime drama FBI: Most Wanted. He stated that when he received the script for the series from CBS, he had an "aha moment" and knew he had to play the character.^[22] He also made guest appearances in parent series FBI and in spin-off FBI: International. McMahon departed the series mid-way through the third season; his final episode, "Shattered", aired 8 March 2022.^[23]

Most of McMahon's roles were villains or damaged characters, roles to which he felt attracted.^[24][25]

In 1994, McMahon married singer and actress Dannii Minogue after meeting on the set of Home and Away in 1991.^[26] The newlyweds spent a great deal of their marriage apart, due to McMahon pursuing his roles in the U.S. and Minogue following her music career in England. They divorced a year and a half later, with Minogue stating that her negative relationship with McMahon's mother, Sonia, Lady McMahon, had been an issue from the beginning.^[26]

In 1999, McMahon married Baywatch star Brooke Burns. The couple had one child together^[27] before divorcing in 2001.^[26] McMahon married for the third time in 2014 to Kelly Paniagua.^[26]

McMahon resided in the United States from the 1990s until his death, but said his soul was still Australian: "I feel like I'm Australian on the inside and American on the outside or something. I would never want to leave it behind either. I love Australians, Australianisms, I love my part of being Australian. I love where I grew up and how I grew up and, you know, I wouldn't change it for the world."^[8]

McMahon became a citizen of the United States via naturalisation, but retained Australian citizenship.^[28]

McMahon died from cancer on 2 July 2025, aged 56, in Clearwater, Florida.^[29]

• Julian McMahon at IMDb