In this interview with E! the “Hawaii Five-0” star Alex O’Loughlin talks about getting into his character. He not only expresses how moved he is by people’s acceptance of him as Steve McGarrett, but he also goes into more detail about how he sees Steve and where he sees the show’s direction going over time.
Listen in!
February 2011
Alex: To be embraced the way I have on this island, by the people here. It means a huge …. I can’t stress enough how much it means to me. It means a huge amount to me. Having people come up to me on the street or in aeroplanes, like all over the place, put a hand on my shoulder and say, “You know, you’re the new young ambassador for our people and ..” It’s like, WOW.
You know, I mean, I still don’t fully know what that means. But I’m going to make you guys as proud as I can. I hope I’m going to be around for a long time, cause this is my new home, you know.
Reporter: What have you brought to the character, that wasn’t here before?
Alex: You mean that wasn’t in the old character?
Reporter: Yeah.
Alex: Look, I think the character is completely different, you know. I didn’t watch that much of the old show. I mean, I saw bits and pieces of it but I certainly didn’t go to it as reference material for this character, for the new show that we’re doing.
I did the normal character work that I’d do for any character. I started … I started at Steve McGarrett’s childhood and sort of worked from there. I did a lot of work with the Navy SEALs. The military influence, of my McGarrett as opposed to Jack’s McGarrett is probably a big point of differentiation.
Being a Navy SEAL actually means something very specific. It’s a way of life. It’s not just a couple of badges on a jacket. So from that point, you can start making character decisions in certain situations. I think he’s a lot more ruthless than Jack’s McGarrett too. My McGarrett likes throwing people into shark cages too and hangs them off 30-story buildings and stuff. So he has different technic.
Reporter: The search for WoFat, is that going to be this season?
Alex: I can’t …. I only know so much. They don’t reveal that much to me the way seasons is going to unfold. They give me kind of major points for my character, which of course I can’t tell you. But I’m let to believe that WoFat is going to be a major part of the rest of certainly Season 1.
Reporter: Fans have another question. They want to know if your sister Mary is going to return?
Alex: I hope so. Yeah, I hope so. Again it’s a question that I can’t answer. You know, I mean, these are questions that the network … these are decisions people who wear suits every day, at the Network make. I don’t even know who those people are . So for the most part there’s things that we on the show want happen creatively.
There’s arcs that we would like to see … you know, lived through, but sometimes you’ve just got to let go and hope for the best. But I don’t know. I hope she comes back, because it is really good for my character. You know, the scenes with Mary it brings out a side of McGarrett we don’t see otherwise. And I …. It’s an important part of, you know, the complexity of that guy.
Reporter: What does she bring out?
Alex: It brings out a… really what you got to understand Mary is the last living member of … of his family. So it brings out … it brings out … it kind of touches on core emotion in him that he otherwise suppresses.
My thoughts
- Of course it turned out that Mary was not the last living member of Steve’s family. Since this interview, we know that Mary came back and then later she came back with an adopted baby girl, Joanie. And mother Doris came back from the “dead” and then disappeared again without any proper explanation. Aunt Deb came in just to be dying of cancer and then she got married and then she died ….. AND I must say, in all these circumstances Alex made the best of Steve and played out those emotions perfectly!
- “There’s arcs that we would like to see … you know, lived through, but sometimes you’ve just got to let go and hope for the best.” <<<<< Listening to this comment from Alex, made me kind of sad and mad – for us as viewers and for the actors who desperately wanted more meat on their characters since day one. There are just to many arcs and stories started and never finished or properly resolved or only continued months and years later. Very frustrating for me.
- And as I have said a few times, I have been missing Navy SEAL McGarrett for the past 2 seasons now. Also a bit sad for me.
Alex O´Loughlin ~ An Intense Study 