MacDonald and his older brother Paul were born in British Columbia to a Canadian father Deryle, who met their mother Margret, a former air hostess, while he was working in Australia. When MacDonald was seven years old, the family back-packed across Europe, before moving to Queensland, Australia. He developed an interest in acting while in primary school on the
Gold Coast, and took classes at Gold Coast Little Theatre. He played Ham in a production of
Samuel Beckett's
Endgame in his high school senior year. He graduated from the
National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1996. ==Career==