Australian magazine, News Weekly, interviews Alex O'Loughlin

Australian magazine, News Weekly, has published an interview with Alex O'Loughlin. Even tho they cover some of the same ground as others, I never grow tired of reading his answers. They never seem stale. Again, we get a glimpse of how hard he works to entertain us. He must be so exhausted during filming. :( As usual, he has nice things to say about his co-star.... this time Jonathan Rhys Meyers. How cute is it when he calls him "Johnny"?!?

Alex's description of the fan reaction in Melbourne is completely different from what he experiences with US fans. Love his response to being asked about Moonlight finding its audience ~ "it certainly has in America." That's right! And, we are gonna bring him even more fans :)

The article is accompanied by some lovely pictures ~

Alex's Photo Album (from top image on the right hand margin)....

1. In Aussie drama Oyster Farmer, 2004

2. Detective Kevin Hiatt in The Shield

3. With co-star Jonathan Rhys Meyers in August Rush

4. Looking menacing in The Invisible with Andrew Francis

5. As Vampire Mick St John in Moonlight

6. Alex with girlfriend Holly Valance, who makes a guest appearance on Moonlight

Interview ~ The hot Aussie star is lighting up the big and small screens

After years of hard slog, Aussie actor Alex O’Loughlin is finally making headway in Hollywood. Sydneysider Alex stars in the TV drama Moonlight, in which he plays a reluctant vampire and detective Mich St John. He also has a part in new film August Rush opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Keri Russel. The 32 year old chats to NW about his rise to the top, girlfriend Holly Valance and his turn in a tampon commercial…

NW - So you made it!

Alex O'Loughlin - [Laughs] It’s taken me a while, I’ve been living over here for three years full-time, and I’ve been going over there for six, seven years. It takes a while to climb the greasy pole of Hollywood, as they say. You get up a bit and then you slip back down, that’s what it’s like. You take two steps forward, three steps back. But you just chip away until you get there.

NW - People talk about the "Aussie Factor" in Hollywood - Do you think they really still care?

Alex O'Loughlin - Yeah, I absolutely think they do. I think Aussies are looked upon as a mystery. There’s a universal feeling in America that Aussies have something to offer that’s different. I don’t know if it’s true or not! We’re very fortunate to be brought up the way we’re brought up. Although certain aspects of it can be frustrating - the tall poppy syndrome is alive and well - it actually breeds a certain level of humanity. I think we have a really good work ethic - we don’t sit around and moan we don’t have the right flavoured candles in our trailers. The things you hear, it’s like, are you kidding? You’re overpaid as it is, just show up and get on with it.

NW - What was working with Jonathan Rhys Meyers like?

Alex O'Loughlin - Johnny and I play brothers [in August Rush], and we lived together for the duration of filming in New York. Johnny and his real brother Jaime - he’s in the movie as well as the drummer of the band we’re all in - and I all lived together and we had a blast. It was great being surrounded by Irish accents, too. We just tore the p**s out of each other the whole time, we had a great repartee and they have a great sense of humour. Jonathan is really well-read, a really smart guy.

NW - How have you found the response to Moonlight?

Alex O'Loughlin - A couple of people have approached me on the streets [in Melbourne] and they said they really liked it, and I’m really glad. I’m sure it’s going to find its audience, it certainly has in America.

NW - Playing a Vampire, a lot of the show is filmed at night - How to you deal with that?

Alex O'Loughlin - In television this is about as hard as it gets. It’s a one-hour drama - I’m number one on the call sheet. The show is about a bunch of different characters and different things, but essentially it’s about Mick St John, who is my character. It’s make-up heavy, it’s special-effects heavy, I do most of my own stunts and we shoot at night so… We get a half-hour lunch break each day. People think it’s a glamorous industry, [but] it’s not. It’s a lot of hard work. But network television at this level, I’ve never experienced anything like it in my career. It’s just like ‘Oh my God’. It’s quite astonishing how much of your life it takes. So you’ve really got to fight to keep some resemblance of normality outside the show.

NW - How do you do that?

Alex O'Loughlin - You really just have to roll with it. You’ve got to go home and take your shoes off and have dinner and try to relax – or have breakfast depending on what time you’re getting home! Just try to make every hour count with your people and for yourself.

NW - There was a rumour that you were the secret love child of Bon Scott, the late lead singer of AC/DC.

Alex O'Loughlin - Where did that rumour come from? That just knocked me.

NW - There's also another guy claiming that he is Bon's son...

Alex O'Loughlin - It’s the same photo that they used to compare me. And this other dude – he looks nothing like me! I was looking at it going [to actress/singer girlfriend Holly Valance], “Hol, I could be Bon Scott’s son”, and she said, “No you couldn’t, you don’t look anything like him.” This other bloke, maybe he is, good luck to him! [Laughs]

NW - It must be bizarre for a rumour like that just to come from nowhere.

Alex O'Loughlin - It is bizarre, man. But it wasn’t malicious, it was almost cool. Kind of mysterious. My Dad was cool as a cucumber, Mum was a little hurt. She was a little offended but she got over it. It’s just ridiculous.

NW - How did you and Holly meet?

Alex O'Loughlin - We met through a friend in Hollywood… And we got on very well and we’ve been together ever since. I don’t like talking about it too much – but I want to say that we’re happy.

NW - What was it like being asked to audition for James Bond?

Alex O'Loughlin - It was a couple of years ago now… They flew me over and looked after me very nicely for a week and cut a couple of suits for me and cut my hair and did a couple of scenes. To be honest, I knew I wasn’t going to get Bond, I’m too young… You never know, in a few years maybe…

NW - Do people in the street ever say "Mousey, Mousey?" to you, in reference to the tampon ad you starred in?

Alex O'Loughlin - So funny, man! Not recently, but that was a big favourite of a lot of people for a long time. One of the first times I was approached on the street in Australia – I’d done a few movies here and some theatre – somebody came up to me and went, “Do I know you?” I was like, “I don’t know”, and he’s like, “What do you do?” And I said, “I’m an actor.” I’m waiting for, “Oh, I saw you in this movie”, and they go, “I got it! Tampon boy!” And I go, “Yep, that’s me, I'm tampon boy.” I’m quite endeared to that little commercial.

August Rush is in [Australian] cinemas now.

Australia ~ Who Spotlight Interview with Alex O'Loughlin

Annette Dasey has written a new piece, for Who Spotlight, that is part article and part interview with our Alex O'Loughlin. We already know the information, but every interview is worded differently ~ including one curse word in this one, that is not spelled out. *grin* Plus, we could never grow tired of Alex!

The magazine is featuring him because his film, August Rush, will have its Australian premiere on February 21st, 2008. I'm glad they published an Alex article to promote the movie.... and him :)

Click on the image above for a larger version. What a cute photo of Alex and Holly! I will also type out the interview for you here to make it easier to read.

Alex O'Loughlin ~ Holly's hottie steps up with two racy new roles
by Annette Dasey

Until a year ago, actor Alex O'Loughlin was, by his own admission, such a nobody in Los Angeles that he "couldn't get arrested." Living on baked beans and building work since arriving in 2005, his luck changed a year later when he met a certain starlet.

"I was helping a friend with a pergola and Holly [Valance] came over - they were mates," says ex-Sydneysider O'Loughlin, who is best known here for the 2004 film Oyster Farmer and 2005 miniseries The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant. "I was like, `She's so hot,` but she played it really cool. As it turned out, she was more of a fan than she let on."

The pair shacked up in Hollywood, where O'Loughlin was known for losing the James Bond role to Daniel Craig - "How gutted was I? I didn't think I was going to get it. It was a f--ing fantastic experience. I've held the gun!" - and (erroneous) reports that he is the son of AC/DC rocker Bon Scott. "My dad didn't care [about the rumours] but my mum was upset," says the 31 year old, whose father is a physics teacher and mother a nurse. "Being viewed as a charlatan worried her."

Then he landed a part in TV crime series The Shield and a supporting role in August Rush, a magical drama (opening on Feb. 21) starring Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Robin Williams, about an orphan who is sure his parents are alive. O'Loughlin, whose son Saxon, 10, is in Australia, and Rhys Meyers shared an apartment in New York while making the movie. "We'd work out and see bands," says O'Loughlin.

Nabbing the lead in vampire TV series Moonlight means O'Loughlin has less time with Holly : "We'd prefer to be together more. You want to be with someone you love, but you adapt."

Photo captions ~

O'Loughlin's ability to empathise with other people and roles is "quite astounding," says Tony Knight, NIDA's head of acting.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers (left) and O'Loughlin play brothers in August Rush.

O'Loughlin and Holly Valance in 2006.

Alex O'Loughlin and Holly Valance Interviewed by Australia's TV Week Magazine

Moonlight's B.C. episode (#1x06) will air this Wednesday, January 16th, 2008 in Australia. In advance of that, Australian magazine TV Week has published an interview with Alex O'Loughlin and Holly Valance. It is a brief article but the reporter, Jenny Cooney Carrillo, asks great questions. I saw the interview mentioned on TV Week's website, but they did not publish it online. :( So, I emailed my friend Alida. She ran out to buy the magazine & sent scans to me. Thank you, Alida!!! :)

You probably know, aside from being Alex's beautiful girlfriend in real life, they also chatted with Holly because she plays the lovely & lethal Lola in B.C. I like the "bad" girls. As I wrote at the time this episode aired here, I hope we haven't seen the last of Dolores Maxford Whitaker!

Holly reveals that she originally tested to be one of the main female characters ~ Beth Turner or Coraline. That would have been very interesting! I think she could have handled either part easily.

There is a tiny spoiler given away by Alex in this question and answer session. Bad boy! Just wanted to mention that for our Aussie readers who have not had the pleasure of seeing this episode yet. :)

Love Bites ~ Blood sucking & fangs are par for the course in Alex O'Loughlin and Holly Valance's relationship

Question : What is it like being famous in Hollywood?

Alex O'Loughlin : It's a little bit scary actually. On the Warner Bros lot where we shoot the show, we have these VIP tours on golf carts and a few fans have gone crazy seeing me outside the sound stage. I did a charity event last weekend and 40 women flew in just to meet Mick St John!

Question : How did they react?

Alex O'Loughlin : There was a lot of yelling and shaking and I've never experienced that before. In Australia, occasionally someone would pat me on the bum and say, "Good work in such and such," but people here seem to be overwhelmed by the show and the character. It's weird, it's really great that people love the show because we work really hard.

The reporter must have interviewed Alex right after his public appearance at the Toys for Tots event at Pole Position, a few weeks ago. I do know that several super Moonlight fans traveled all the way from Chicago to Corona, California to see him. Poor guy was startled by all the swooning! ha!

Question : How did you wind up working with Holly?

Alex O'Loughlin : The truth is I had nothing to do with her getting the role. I got a call as we were approaching the episode and the producers said, "Just to let you know, Holly will be playing Lola." So I called Holly because I didn't even know she was reading for the role and said, "Honey, guess what?" and she said, "Yeah, I know!"

Question : Why did she keep it from you?

Alex O'Loughlin : Holly is a woman of great integrity and she's very special. I can't believe how mature she is for her age (Alex is 31 years old & Holly is 25) and she just felt that I didn't need the distraction. She also felt it was very important that if she was going to get a job that had any sort of association with me, she needed to do it completely of her own accord - and she did.

Question : How was it working with Holly - especially as your characters have a fight scene?

SPOILER!

Alex O'Loughlin : I was wondering if it would be weird, but it was totally comfortable. And the great thing is they've killed her character off ambiguously, so you never know - she may come back!

Question : How was it playing a 500 year old Vampire?

Holly Valance : I had a lot of extra hair and fangs and milky contact lenses, so it was cool but also quite frightening. It was unlike anything I'd ever done acting-wise.

Question : How did you get the role?

Holly Valance : I'd tested for the two leads on the show when they were originally casting, so the producers knew me and put me on hold for the role. I decided not to say anything and see what Alex would say. When he called and said, "I've got good news, don't freak out." I just said, "That's great, babe. I found out four days ago!"

Question : What was it like working together?

Holly Valance : I was nervous for the first 15 minutes, but once we got into it, I switched from being Holly to becoming Lola and just had fun.

Question : Tell us more about the fight!

Holly Valance : The crew were saying, "You guys are going to kill each other! You're really going for it, aren't you?" We were both trying to outdo each other.

Can you imagine how fun it would be to hang out with Holly & Alex? They sound happy with each other. I like that :) Click on the images above to see a large, readable version of the interview... and to check out the great photos of Mick St John, Lola and Beth Turner.

http://tvweek.ninemsn.com.au

Moonlight can be seen every Wednesday night at 9:30 PM on Channel Nine in OZ.