OJF/BB Exclusive: Interview with Alex O’Loughlin!

Alex O'Loughlin

Woohoo! I have been wanting to tell you about this and now I can! Online JLo Fan and Beyond-Beautiful.com did an interview with Alex after the recent press conference. Some people have all the luck!!!

It is a great interview that, obviously given the sites conducting the interview, focuses on how it was for Alex to work with JLo and how they got on together. We have heard quite a bit about this already but this interview has some real gems. We get very intimate filming details.

 

I’m seated in the conference room for The Back-up Plan’s national press conference. There are about fifty print, radio, and online press members present. The stars of the movie, Jennifer Lopez and Alex O’Loughlin, are seated side by side sharing a table with director, Alan Poul, and screen-writer, Kate Angelo. It doesn’t take much time for me to be taken with O’Loughlin’s charm; the rest of the room seems to concur. His sense of humor is quick and natural, and the chemistry between he and co-star, Lopez, is unquestionably present off screen. I cannot wait to uncover more. 

Rehearsing scenes in Pasadena, CA.

One on one

I have a series of questions neatly laid out in front of me. Feeling quite upbeat and even more inquisitive after my earlier interview with Poul, it’s finally my turn to see O’Loughlin. By this hour, he’s had a steady stream of interviewers walk through his door and I can only hope our interview goes smoothly.

He welcomes me with that bright smile of his, and he still looks as fresh as he did nearly four hours ago in the conference room twelve floors down. He is sporting a suit jacket, button up shirt (first two buttons undone), jeans, and Converse Chuck Taylors. Believe it when they say that natural good looks on camera are even more striking in person. That and I am a sucker for long eyelashes, which he’s also blessed with. The peek-a-boo afternoon sun is shining inside the suite where I find myself seated before him.

O’Loughlin has an extremely charismatic vibe about him that is very fresh and inviting. Possessing these qualities, I’m certain, made it easier for him to connect with Lopez. But, I was still curious to find out if their on-screen chemistry came naturally, or if they perhaps needed to work on it at all?

“No, it was really easy,” he says. “We met before we did the film. I flew to New York City and I went out to Marc and Jen’s house [in] Long Island and we had a cup of tea, and we just hit it off, you know what I mean? Sometimes you sit with people and you don’t hit it off or you’re not that interested. And other times, you do. And we both realized that we were to the other, someone who we could work with,” he explains. “I knew I could work with her closely because I kind of ‘got her’. She was funny! That’s a big thing. If she was someone who really took herself seriously and didn’t know how to laugh, I think I would have been like, ‘Weeeellll, I don’t know, it’s going to be a challenge to get to those important scenes,’ you know?”

“Make it a hard day on the set,” I gather. “Yeah, make it a hard day on the set of a romantic comedy,” he agrees. “But it wasn’t. We had a laugh; we kind of [played around]. She [clocked] my balls a bit; I kind of teased her a bit about her hair or whatever. So that’s where it started and where we sort of set the tone for the [movie]. It’s great. We’ve been mates ever since. We’re pals now. So, it’s nice…”

If seeing O’Loughlin’s and Lopez’s interaction in the movie and then witnessing it off-camera during the conference wasn’t gratifying enough, he now has me laughing in between questions with his account of getting to know his co-star. My laugh turns into a deep smile hearing O’Loughlin express his intent to keep in touch with his new pal, “It’s a real kind of sibling, kind of good friend feel now,” he says. “It’s funny. I don’t see her much because she’s so busy and out of town with her music and stuff. And they’re [in LA] or they’re in New York and Marc’s got a bunch of stuff. They’re always moving around, but I love the chance to see those guys when I do because they’re really cool people. Like, I’ve worked with a lot of people over the years and sometimes, most of the time, you lose contact. Sometimes you’ll text once here and there, every couple of years, ‘Oh, hey how’s it going’; but for the most part, so many people come and go. But, there are some people along the way [where] it’s like, ‘Dude, you’re a great person; it was a great experience, we really clicked.’ And, you know, that was this experience.”

Working with an “Icon”

As we talk, O’Loughlin continues to rave about Lopez and her ability to make others feel a particular way, saying “she’s a really lovely, open, earnest woman and she happens to be obscenely famous, you know? She happens to be this iconic figure in film and music that we all know about.”

Going through a scene with Jennifer.He marvels some more adding, “When I first met her, I was… I have been a big fan of music my whole life and my music tastes are a little [different]. I love all music, but I mainly head towards rock and blues, you know, and that’s sort of what I play [as a hobby]. But I knew who she was, of course, and I’d seen some of her films, and when I met her, I wasn’t nervous, but I was curious as to what she would be like, and how someone deals with that level of fame; because I’ve never had it, you know? Right away, I discovered that she works really hard to deal with it, to have the privacy that she has to have a normal life for her and her family and that’s something that’s so admirable, because I think it would be so easy to go off the tracks…”

And we all know how going “off the tracks” has played out for Lopez in the past. As fans, we’ve seen Lopez ride plenty of waves of media attention – the praise, as well as the inevitable backlash. But we have also witnessed her transformation into a more guarded and protective person since her marriage to husband, Marc Anthony. This is something O’Loughlin understands, “It’s really important, too. I think as you grow up, I mean, she was pretty famous pretty young, too, you know? And as you grow up, you get older, you get a family, [and] you have kids and stuff. You realize what’s important. You realize what’s sacred.”

Being the father of a twelve year old, O’Loughlin can personally relate to this, “When you have kids, you [ask yourself], ‘when I die, what’s important?’ [It’s] not your Rolex or your Louboutins,” he offers. “It’s that your kids are ok, that your family is ok. It’s not ‘wow, he looks so great on that billboard or she looks so great in that dress.’ So, [Lopez is] that. She’s that, man. She’s got her head screwed on.”

An Adult’s Playground

Speaking of family, Lopez’s twins often made an appearance on the set, what was that like? I ask. “So cool,” he says with an instant smile. “It’s the best, really. A film set is like an adult’s playground and we spend so much time on them… I work and live on them. To be on a film set where there’s a family vibe, and a family feel is kind of unusual and very refreshing. It was great to have [Jennifer’s] kids there so much and Marc there when he could be there, when he wasn’t working. [Also] to have my son there, and my best friend would [visit], and her best friend was there, and her family. It was just awesome. It was the best time.”

Drama vs. Comedy

O’Loughlin has played a variety of roles throughout the years, but his stand-out role was likely as vampire Mick St. John in the short-lived, but beloved ‘Moonlight’. Most recently, O’Loughlin starred in CBS’ medical drama, ‘Three Rivers’. The Back-up Plan is his first foray into comedy.

Having worked mostly on dramas, what is the transition like from drama to comedy, I ask? “That’s a good question,” he says. “It’s quite a transition, you know. Comedy is difficult, [but so is] playing drama. You know, I’ve played a lot of characters; I’ve played characters that are similar to me as a person, but I’ve played a lot of characters that are very different to me as a person, as well. And the further I am away from who I am and what I’m like, the easier it is for me. You can dress me up as the devil, with a big mask and stuff and that’d be easy for me to play because I am hiding behind it. The closer you get to who I actually am, and ‘Stan’ has a lot of attributes that I have, the harder it is for me. The harder it is to put that on screen and to show my true self because as actors, a lot of us are very private with our true self. And [the reason] we’re so good and so comfortable on the job that we do, is because we can hide. So, the transition from drama to comedy…and also comedy is challenging. There’s a lot of things – there’s timing, You’ve got to understand what’s funny and why it’s funny and then you’ve got to forget about it and just do it. And often you mess it up. And you’ve got to be prepared to look like an idiot and fail completely…”

“Multiple times,” I figure and he agrees, “multiple times to get to the one that works. But we’re both good at that, so…”

A Message from O’Loughlin Fans

Before I know it, it’s time to wrap things up and I’m delighted to find out he enjoys fan interaction, “I love it, man. It’s hard. I wish I could do more of it. I’m so busy and sometimes it’s hard. Like, I only get enough time with my family and of course, my family has to come first, but my fans are very, very important to me. And whenever I can, I do. I reach out [on my] blog and I like to respond to what I can. My MySpace is – all the other ones – like, there’s people pretending to be me on Facebook and pretending to be me on Twitter. That’s not me. But the [MySpace one] is.”

I tell him I am to deliver a quick message from his fans, sent to us by Tiffany fromAlexOLoughlinOnline.com, and he lights up, “ok!” The message reads:

“We want to let him know we can’t wait to see him in The Back-up Plan, and we hope Hawaii Five-O gets picked up and we can’t wait to see you in it and we’ll keep supporting you.”

O’Loughlin claps and grins, saying, “That’s awesome!”

I sincerely thank O’Loughlin for taking the time to talk to us as I make my way out. “It’s a pleasure,” he responds.

As I happily drift down the hall, I realize I have completely forgotten to ask an imperative question! Lucky me, he has no other interviews, as it is now lunch time. I shuffle back towards him and tell him I just have to ask him one last question.

First, let me set it up for you, in The Back-up Plan, O’Loughlin plays a cheese-making farmer and selects one of his artisan cheeses representative of [Lopez’s character] ‘Zoe’s’ traits and names it, “The Zoe”. You will have to check out the movie when it opens on April 23 to find out everything about this cheese.

Pressed to know the ingredients in a cheese named after Lopez, I ask him to describe the cheese she would be…

“The Jennifer”

He laughs in amusement to my question, “ha ha! Oh! Ok, she’d be… Pretty similar to the Zoe, actually, I think…except not distrustful of men. That’s not right. She’d be smart. She’d be….what would she be…ahhhh…well, ok, hang on.” I’ve clearly stumped him, and I can’t help but chuckle. He takes a couple of seconds to cook up the perfect recipe, “The 3 things that Jennifer would be in a cheese, strong, [biting], and with a sweet after palate.”

I’m completely satisfied!

Did I already ask how the folks from OJF/BB got so lucky??!! Well, I guess I can’t complain because they took me along for the ride… sort of. I know one of the interviewers and was able to get a message to Alex! This was important to me after his fandom kind of split recently over his Hawaii Five-O role. Some nasty messages were left on his MySpace page even. As I have stated before they don’t speak for all of us… or even the majority of us and I wanted to let Alex know we love and support him. And lucky me, they mention part of my message in the interview!

Enjoy!

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18 Comments - Write a Comment

  1. Way to go Tiffany! That was an awesome interview and the fact that you and this great website were mentioned is so cool. Have you come down to earth yet? We are so proud of you because this is a great website and we know how hard you work to make it that way. Now we all know that Alex got out message, through you of course, and knows we’re going to be there for him no matter what. Thanks for posting the link for us so that we could get the full interview. It’s nice to hear that he spends as much time as he can with his son. Can Alex be anymore charming and handsome????? I think not! Again, congrats, Tiffany – great job.

  2. Congrats, Tiffany on being able to get a message to Alex. Good for you…I know that you work hard on keeping this website going and up to date. I liked reading about his response regarding your message. He is so genuine with his responses and you can see that he loves his fans. I, for one, am extremely thankful for your great website as I wouldn’t know as much about Alex as I do if not for you website. This interview was wonderful and I’m so happy to hear him talk about his son in more of his recent interviews. I can’t wait to see the movie and have plans to gather a group of my friends together to go see it on opening day. Let’s make this the #1 one movie next weekend! I look forward to continued updates on our favorite guy! 🙂

    1. Thx Trisha! I know I will be there opening weekend!!

  3. Wait a minute, I’m completely confused!! He has a son????

    And the interview was awesome! XD

    1. Megan, yes he has a son who is about 12. His son and the mother live in OZ.

  4. It just keeps getting better and better…I hope that Alex has all the sucess in the world in B ack Up Plan and coming Hawii Five O the inerview was GREAT…and happy to hear is son was with him while filming (and a girl friend and her family?? Hmmmm? Holly? Suzanne Your Forever Fan

  5. It really ticks me off to hear of people going to anyone’s myspace page, lj, or whatever and saying nasty things but to show up on Alex’s page, after he’s been kind enough to allow fans access, only to be rude and obnoxious is appalling. Sorry Alex! Some people have no class.

    It really bugged me to listen to all the negative comments some people have made just because the guy accepted the role in H50, some because they wanted him to do something else ( and heh-I loved Moonlight, too, but there are other roles out there in which Alex will also shine!) and some because they think it’s sacrilege to remake H50 because it was the bestest TV show evah. The original H50 was entertaining in its own way but it was NOT the best thing ever broadcast and there was definitely room for improvement, like, for instance, the way the detectives dressed. I fully support Alex in whatever he does.

  6. Does anyone know how I can access Alex,s myspace page?

  7. hi thanks the interview was great thanks again cany wait to see the movie when it comes
    charlene

  8. Oh what a great interview, Alex hasn’t a bad word to say about Jennifer or any other people that he has worked with he is such a lovely guy, I do hope TBUP does well in cinemas and that CBS goes ahead with H50 he deserves the best. Thanks for posting Tiffany, and too Flora yes I also think Alex is very articulate in speech I could listen to him for hours!!!!!
    Love you loads Alex XXXXXX

  9. Bom dia,
    Alex, as always, is absolutely sweet.
    I could stare at him, without even hearing his voice, for the rest of my life.
    Is just my opinion or all of you english speakers think he is very articulated when speaking?
    Total pleasure….
    Obrigada Tifanny!

  10. Thanks, Tiffany, for posting one of the best interviews with Alex and for getting that “right-on” message across to Alex from all his fans who support him in whatever he does!

  11. Tiffany, you are an angel girl!!! He has a lot of fans on facebook that are really loyal and have been worried about him since we heard about the MS incident – but we had no way to get a message to him:) Good for you though. I am friends with him on myspace and he hasnt been on ther or facebook in ages – it is so hard as we all miss him so much. Look forward to these interviews etc xx

  12. · Edit

    What a wonderful interview and especially exciting to hear his reaction to the message from Tiffany. This is the greatest for all of us who have been hanging on so dedicatedly waiting for word from Alex. And the 23rd is only 10 days away. I’m holding my breath. Thanks Tiffany for this enormously appreciated gift.

  13. WOW!! Tiffany, what a great coup for you!! This is a terrific interview…every one I read or see just makes me love him more – if that’s possible!! Thanks for posting!!!

  14. This was a great in-depth interview. Thank you so much. Also thank you for getting the message across that Alex’s fans support him. I too hope that The Back Up Plan helps get Alex the recognition he so richly deserves. Hawaii 5-0 as well. I also hope that Alex stays true to himself and that the media let him continue to enjoy some privacy as far as his personal life. Finally, Alex while we hope you become an A-List actor, please continue to remember that your fans in addition to your great skills helped get you there. Best wishes always.

    Again thank you for the interview – one of the best I have read.

  15. Thanks for this great interview, Alex is too cute!!!!
    Great question, thanks!

  16. · Edit

    Thanks for posting! We were really happy with your help and getting a general message across — speaking from his awesome fans. He was so happy to get that message.

    Let’s hope that The Back-up Plan will really help kick start his career to a whole other level! He definitely fits the mold of popular Hollywood A-List actors and he deserves to get that recognition.

    Hoping for the best 🙂

    – Imko
    OnlineJLoFan.com

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