Home
Cast
Chat
Episodes
Links
Photos
Quotes

Lipstick Jungle - Julian Sands as Hector Matrick

Julian Sands stars in NBC's "Lipstick Jungle" as "Hector Matrick," the wealthy, powerful owner of "Bonfire" magazine and Parador Pictures, who rules over the ladies.

First known in the United States for his heart-wrenching and romantic feature film turn in the beautiful period piece "A Room with a View," England's Julian Sands most recently mesmerized a new audience, starring as the heart-crushing uber-villain on the Emmy Award-winning "24." His character, Vladimir Bierko, was a deliciously, quietly evil antagonist -- as he had to be in order to induce Sands, as one of film's most recognizable leading character actors, to jump into series television.

Earthy, outdoorsy and athletic, Sands is a Yorkshireman who was educated at Lord Wandsworth College in Hampshire and then at the Central School of Speech & Drama in London. His first role in a major motion picture was as journalist John Swain in Roland Joffe's award-winning "The Killing Fields," and from there he went on to star in some of Hollywood's most celebrated films. These include "A Room with a View," "Boxing Helena" and "Naked Lunch." He is a favorite of British director Mike Figgis, with whom he has worked on five films, including "Timecode" and the acclaimed "Leaving Las Vegas."

Most recently, Sands appeared as Sir Laurence Olivier in "Kenneth Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore," the much-lauded BBC television movie about the formation of Britain's National Theater. He also starred as Hagen in "Ring of the Nibelungs" (based on the original German and Nordic tales that inspired Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings"). On stage in 2005 at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, he starred as the beleaguered British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the U.S. premiere of David Hare's controversial "Stuff Happens," concerning the story of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

As an actor, Sands can be relied upon to play characters who are complex and conflicted. As a person, however, he enjoys the more straightforward and challenging pursuits of mountain climbing.

Sands lives in Los Angeles with his family.