Alex O'Loughlin Biography

Alex O'Loughlin (born 24 August 1976) is an Australian actor who currently stars in CBS's Hawaii Five-0 as Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett. He previously had starring roles in the films Oyster Farmer (2004) and The Back-up Plan (2010), as well as the 2008 TV series Moonlight and the 2009 TV series Three Rivers.

Early life

O'Loughlin was born as Alexander O'Lachlan in Canberra, Australia, of Irish and Scottish descent. He was educated at Macquarie Primary School ACT, where his younger sister Jennifer also studied. His year of birth has been given, variously, as 1974, 1975, and 1978. His father is a physics and astronomy teacher in Sydney and his mother is a nurse.

O'Loughlin suffered from asthma, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) when he was a boy. He wanted to become a jet fighter pilot but was told by his teacher that it was unlikely due to his asthma. This was a painful memory for him that recently evoked the response, "Always teach children to reach for the stars." He was a fan of heavy metal music and the Japanese TV series Monkey.

Playing dress up with items out of an old trunk was one of his favorite pastimes. 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 jobs in a wide range of fields. He enrolled at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney, Australia, in 1999. Despite a challenging first year, he graduated from NIDA in June 2002, after completing a 3-year, full-time Bachelor of Dramatic Art program.

Career

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. 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.

His film career started off in 2004 when he landed his first lead role in Oyster Farmer. He later 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. 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."

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. 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.

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. However, he was subsequently cast in the lead role of the CBS hospital drama Three Rivers, developed by producer Carol Barbee, which aired Sunday evenings in the 2009"2010 season.

In April 2009, he guest-starred in an episode of Criminal Minds, most notably in the Season Four episode, "The Big Wheel" as an OCD-ridden serial killer, Vincent Rowlings who sends the BAU a videotape, asking them for help in stopping him from killing people. In December 2009 CBS pulled Three Rivers from its schedule. O'Loughlin starred alongside Jennifer Lopez in the 2010 romantic comedy film The Back-up Plan.

O'Loughlin was cast in the CBS remake of Hawaii Five-0 portraying Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) Steve McGarrett, which premiered on 20 September 2010,. The show was one of CBS's most successful new shows of the 2010"2011 season, and won "Favorite New TV Drama" at the 2010"11 People's Choice Awards. Subsequently, BuddyTV ranked him #2 on its "TV's 100 Sexiest Men of 2010" list and #9 in 2011.

On 2 March 2012, CBS announced that O'Loughlin would miss shooting some episodes of Hawaii Five-0 to seek drug treatment related to pain management medication prescribed after a shoulder injury. He was slated to miss at least one episode from the second season.

Personal life

O'Loughlin's first child, son Saxon, was born to a girlfriend with whom he has since separated. He separated from his long-time girlfriend, Australian actress/singer Holly Valance in February 2009. O'Loughlin and his girlfriend model/surfer Malia Jones have a son, Lion.

O'Loughlin lives in West Hollywood, California, but while filming Hawaii Five-0 he lives in Hawaii. He is the current ambassador for Donate Life America.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2003	White Collar Blue	Ian Mack	1 episode: 2:01
2004	Oyster Farmer	Jack Flange
	Love Bytes	Dave	1 episode: Net Nanny
	Black Jack: Sweet Science	Luke Anderson
2005	Man-Thing	Eric Fraser
	Feed	Michael Carter
	Mary Bryant	Will Bryant	Nominated " Australian Film Institute Award for Best Lead Actor in Television Nominated " Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
2006	The Holiday	Kissing Couple
2007	The Invisible	Marcus Bohem
	August Rush	Marshall
	The Shield	Kevin Hiatt	7 episodes
2007"2008	Moonlight	Mick St. John	16 episodes (Won People's Choice Award 2007"08 as best drama series)
2009	Whiteout	Russell Haden
	Criminal Minds	Vincent Rowlings	1 episode ("The Big Wheel")
2009"2010	Three Rivers	Dr. Andy Yablonski	13 episodes
2010	The Back-up Plan	Stan
2010"present	Hawaii Five-0	LCDR Steve McGarrett	Won: Best New TV Drama " People's Choice Awards 2010"2011

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Work nominated	Result
2005	AFI Award	Best Lead Actor in Television	Mary Bryant
2006	Silver Logie Award	Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series	Mary Bryant