British-born Dominic Purcell became an Aussie transplant when his family moved Down Under when he was 2. He grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood, loved surfing and worked as a landscape gardener as a teen, but disliked the heavy physical labor of the job. He was inspired to explore acting as a profession after watching Oliver Stone's
Platoon, not only because of the virtues of the film, but because he realized being in movies was something at which he could make a good living. Fortunately for himself---and his fans---his talent came to light after he enrolled in an acting course. He eventually studied alongside future star Hugh Jackman before landing a role on the Australian TV series
Raw FM in 1997. His big break came in 2000 when he appeared in a minor role in the Tom Cruise action flick
Mission: Impossible 2, which shot partly in Australia. Although Purcell's role was small, casting agents took notice and he was soon on his way to Los Angeles, where he was eventually cast in the title role of the Fox drama
John Doe, about a brilliant man who aids police investigations but has no personal memory. The series lasted only a season but Purcell soon popped up on the big screen in
Blade: Trinity and again on TV in a memorable stint on the short-lived prime-time soap
North Shore before landing his career-making role as wrongly accused death-row inmate Lincoln Burrows on
Prison Break in 2005.
Dominic Purcell Fast Facts:
- Is of Norwegian and Irish decent.
- Was a classmate of Hugh Jackman's at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
- Won the Green Card Lottery and moved to the U.S. in 2000.
- Dominic Purcell Relationships:
- Audrey Purcell - Daughter
- Augustus Purcell - Son
- Joseph Purcell - Son
- Lily-Rose Purcell - Daughter
- Rebecca Williamson Purcell - Ex-wife
- Maureen Purcell - Mother
- Damian Purcell - Brother
- Jaime Purcell - Brother
- Patrick Purcell - Brother
- Marie-Therese Purcell - Sister
- AnnaLynne McCord - Significant Other