English actor Julian Ovenden, born in 1976, was initially set to pursue a career in music. He is gifted with an exceptional tenor, and was also trained in trombone, trumpet and piano. Despite winning choral scholarships to Eton and Oxford, he decided to study theatre at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.
Ovenden first built his name on British television, making his debut in the 2002 television movie Come Together. He then established his name as a regular on several British dramas—the 2003 medical drama The Royal, where he appeared for one full season; and the miniseries The Forsyte Saga, which aired in 2002. His most important British project, however, was the detective series Foyle’s War, which premiered in 2002. He played Andrew Foyle, the only son of Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen) who previously trained as a fighter pilot for the Royal Air Force.
In 2005, he made his American debut, joining the cast of the short-lived drama Related as Jason Greenstein, the new boyfriend of Marjee (Lizzy Caplan) and ex-boyfriend of Trish (Anne Elizabeth Ramsay). In 2008, he took his first regular project on American television, appearing in the dramedy Cashmere Mafia. He played the role of Eric Burden, the architect husband of Zeo Burden (Frances O’Connor). The series was cancelled after one season.