Alex O'Loughlin

Alex O'Loughlin
Alex O'Loughlin at 2009 Outfest Legacy Awards
Born	Alexander O'Lachlan (1976-08-24) 24 August 1976 (age 35) Canberra, Australia
Occupation	Actor, writer
Years active	2001–present

Alex O'Loughlin (born Alexander O'Lachlan; 24 August 1976) is an Australian actor, currently starring in CBS's Hawaii Five-0 as Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett. His best known earlier roles include Kevin Hiatt in The Shield, Mick St. John in Moonlight, Dr. Andy Yablonski in Three Rivers, and Stan in The Back-up Plan. He is also the current ambassador for Donate Life America.^[1]

Early life

O'Loughlin was born in Canberra, Australia. He is of Irish and Scottish descent.^[2] He was educated at Macquarie Primary School with his sister Jennifer who is a year or two younger than him. ^[3] His year of birth has been given, variously, as 1975,^[4][5] 1976,^[6][7] 1977,^[8] and 1978.^[9] His father is a physics and astronomy teacher in Sydney and his mother is a nurse.^[10][11]

O'Loughlin suffered from asthma,^[12] attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD)^[12][13] and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).^[12] As a boy he wanted to become a jet fighter pilot when he grew up, but was told by his teacher that it was an unlikely dream as he suffers from asthma; this was a painful memory for him that recently evoked the response, "Always teach children to reach for the stars."^[12] He was a fan of heavy metal music and Monkey.^[14] Playing dress up with items out of an old trunk was a favorite pastime for young Alex. He has fond memories of often donning a white clown suit with big red polka dots.^[12] School was a continuous struggle, caused by learning difficulties that were compounded by ADHD and OCD, and he left when he was 14, after which he held all manner of jobs in a wide range of fields.^[12]

He enrolled at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney, Australia, in 1999.^[12] Despite a challenging first year, he went on to graduate from NIDA in June 2002, after completing their highly competitive three-year, full-time Bachelor of Dramatic Art program, to which only a limited number of students are accepted annually.^[12][15][16]

Career

Acting held the biggest appeal and O'Loughlin was already working in short film and fringe theater as a teenager in Sydney. One of the first acting jobs he recalls is being an extra in a commercial, playing a marine.^[17] After graduating from NIDA, he began his career in Australian television and film productions and some of his TV credits include roles in BlackJack: Sweet Science, Love Bytes and White Collar Blue.^[17]

His film career started off in 2004 when he landed his first lead role in Oyster Farmer.^[18] Continuing his career O'Loughlin appeared in Man-Thing, Feed, and in the Australian mini-series The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant for which he received a nomination as the Best Lead Actor in Television from the Australian Film Institute Awards in 2005 and as Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series from the Logie Awards in 2006.^[19][20] O'Loughlin joined the cast of The Shield in 2007 as Detective Kevin Hiatt, the newest member of the strike team.

In 2005, he screen-tested for the movie role of James Bond. As he told one interviewer: "I met with [director] Martin Campbell here in Los Angeles at his office on the Sony [Pictures] lot and he asked me to fly to London and test and we tested at Pinewood [Studios]. It was the biggest screen test I've ever done. It was very comprehensive. I had tuxedos and suits cut for it and hair cuts." Alex also performed alongside actor Justin Chatwin in the 2007 film The Invisible. He portrayed Marcus, the boyfriend and partner in crime of Annie Newton, boosting and stealing cars.^[21]

He left The Shield after he won the lead role on the CBS series Moonlight, where he played private investigator and vampire Mick St. John.^[15][22] The filming of Moonlight was interrupted by the Hollywood writers strike. There was speculation that the series would be dropped but fan pressure prevailed and the show was given four additional episodes to try to regain its audience share. Despite being the highest rated show in its Friday evening slot (consistently achieving over 7 million viewers), CBS did not commission a second season. After its cancellation, a fan-based charity campaign to win a second-season renewal for Moonlight by holding blood drives proved unsuccessful.^[23]

In August 2008, it was announced that CBS had signed a talent development deal with O'Loughlin as the star of a TV series to be developed by writer Mark Gordon, but it never materialised.^[24] However, he was subsequently cast in the lead role of the new CBS hospital drama Three Rivers, developed by producer Carol Barbee, which aired Sunday evenings in the 2009–2010 season.^[25] In April 2009, he guest-starred in an episode of Criminal Minds as a serial killer who asks the BAU for help. In December 2009 CBS pulled Three Rivers from its schedule.^[26] O'Loughlin recently starred alongside Jennifer Lopez in the 2010 romantic comedy film The Back-up Plan.^[27]

In February 2010, it was announced that O'Loughlin was cast in the CBS remake of Hawaii Five-0 portraying Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) Steve McGarrett,^[28] which premiered on 20 September 2010, and has been one of CBS's most successful new shows of the 2010–2011 season. Hawaii Five-0 won "Favorite New TV Drama" at the 2010–11 People's Choice Awards. Consequently, BuddyTV ranked him #2 on its "TV's 100 Sexiest Men of 2010" list^[29] and #9 in 2011.^[30]

On 2 March 2012, CBS announced that O'Loughlin would miss shooting some episodes of Hawaii Five-O to seek drug treatment related to pain management medication prescribed after a shoulder injury. The actor will miss at least one episode from this season. ^{[31] [32]}

Personal life

He lives in West Hollywood, California, but while filming Hawaii Five-0 has a home in Honolulu, Hawaii. His son, Saxon, was born when Alex was 20 years old. He and his son's mother split and Saxon resides in Australia with his mother but visits O'Loughlin frequently in the US.^[33]

He split from long-time girlfriend, the Australian actress/singer Holly Valance in February 2009.^[15][21][34] In November 2011 at the GQ Australia Awards, he confirmed he is dating Hawaiian professional surfer and model Malia Jones.^[35] He is quoted as saying about Malia: "I am a very lucky guy and very happy at the moment. She's amazing."^[36]

Filmography

Awards

External links

• Alex O'Loughlin at the Internet Movie Database

References