Julian Mark Ovenden was born on Nov. 29, 1976 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Driven to a life of performance, Ovenden studied music at New College, Oxford, which he attended on a choral scholarship, before going on to focus his efforts on acting at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. Following graduation from the latter institution, Ovenden began to pick up professional acting gigs in the realms of stage, TV, and film. The first decade of Ovenden's screen career was lined with recurring roles on popular television productions, beginning with the miniseries "The Forsythe Saga" (ITV 2002-03) and the mystery series "Foyle's War" (ITV 2002-2015), and continuing on with the medical drama "The Royal" (ITV 2003-2011) and the American comedy "Related" (The WB 2005-06). Ovenden's career slowed down a bit around 2010, at which time he married opera singer Kate Royal, but picked back up thereafter with roles in well-known series like "Smash" (NBC 2012-13), "Downton Abbey" (ITV/PBS 2010-15), and "Person of Interest" (CBS 2011-16). Maintaining his music career all the while, Ovenden released his debut album, "If You Stay," in 2013, and made his debuts at both Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic in 2014. Next, Ovenden landed a co-starring role in the historical fiction drama series "Knightfall" (History 2017-), in which he was cast to play Guillaume de Nogaret, duplicitous advisor to the 13th century French king Philip IV.