Hawaii Five-O’s Australian star, Alex O’Loughlin, has revealed when he will quit the popular TV show.
NEWS.COM.AU
15 October 2016
The actor is currently in the process of finishing season seven in the popular reboot of the original 1970s hit show, playing Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett. But it looks like this will be his penultimate season with the show.
“I signed on for another two (seasons), which is this year and next year, series seven and eight, and I don’t know if I can sustain any more than that just physically,” O’Loughlin said. “I’ve taken so many physical hits on this show, my back is pretty bad and I’ve got a lot of fixing I’ve got to do. I’ve got to fix my body.”
The actor appears to kick off season seven with a chase scene involving some serious parkour moves over buildings through Hawaii. Looks can be deceiving, however, as most of the action work is done by stunt professionals.
“Maybe 15 years ago I’d say `yeah I want to jump off that building’ but I was 40 a couple of weeks ago so I kind of know my place. There are certain things you don’t try to start doing at 40,” he said.
The show is not all about the action, the heart of the show is the relationship between O’Loughlin’s character and his partner Danny Williams, played by Scott Caan.
“Steve and Danny have been in therapy for a couple of years so they’re making leaps and bounds,” O’Loughlin said. “The wonderful thing about television as opposed to film is that it spans over years so you literally have years to work on these characters, therefore there is a natural ease between them on camera and that gets easier and easier.”
Aside from Steve and Danny, there’s another very important character in the series.
“We always said from the very beginning that Hawaii itself plays a character in the show and probably the most important character. To look at it vivid in high definition footage it’s like `oh my God it’s gorgeous’,” he said.
Despite the advantages of being in a long-running show, O’Loughlin still has an end date in mind for one specific reason.
“I want to throw a football with my grandkids one day so I’ve got to be smart,” he said. ” I think if we get through these two seasons and finish with an eighth season I think it would be an incredible feather in all of our caps and something to be proud of so I’m just focused at the moment on getting through seven and making it into eight.”
My Thoughts
- As usual I think the reporter filled in a lot gaps with her own thoughts and words and ideas, just to make the article look more interesting.
- Of course they are not finishing Season 7, but have only started and are not even half way through filming Season 7.
- Although the ratings are good, and Peter mentioned this week that the future looks good for a renewal of Season 8, it still remains to be seen if that will in fact happen (Even if contracts were signed or not).
- If I had to be in therapy constantly with a work partner, just to get along, I would rather quit …… #justsaying
- Interesting that Alex would want to quit because of the physical toll the series had on his body, and yet so many fans would like to see him as Bond. That, while Daniel Craig mentioned many time in interviews that the Bond role has been hard on his body. Apparently he needed a few operations thus far to repair some of the damage he sustained while doing the Bond films.
- When you read the last sentence, you can clearly see that the initial statement of the journalist is not completely true. Alex’s first and last words to me means that he is trying to look after his body better now (even repair it), so that he can get through this Season 7 and be okay if there are a Season 8 (…… and maybe beyond). He is not saying that he is quitting after 8 – maybe just a suggestion that it would be good enough if it was the last season. As usual words got a little twisted for me in the article it seems.
Alex O´Loughlin ~ An Intense Study 
I completely agree with your interpretation of the article.
Very often Alex’s words are used out of place and what is said in the interview can be misleading, as you said a lot was filled in with the writer’s own version of facts.
If there is a season 8 it might be the last but I don’t think Alex would leave the show before its very end.
And I don’t think there could be H50 without McGarrett.
LikeLike
yr right hes jst letin us knw his back is hurtin and needs work as we knw hes not in it for the money and thnk u for clearin the nonesense up he luvs us fans and i so aprecate him hes become more like ohana to me i dnt c him as acelebrity i c him as a buba lol hug
LikeLike
I love this programme so much I hope Steve doesn’t leave cos who going to look after Danno great actors especially Mr maggarett please don’t leave
LikeLike
I agree with your interpretation. Hopefully there will be more seasons after 8 if that happens. We will have to wait and see. I am along for the ride no matter how long it will be
LikeLike
oh i can c at least 10 yrs here maybe more i so luv the stories this one started off with abang yikes blues gone wowza
LikeLike
I absolutely agree with all your thoughts FOYeur. I am pretty sure Alex will be there till the very end. He always was a team player and showed his commitment to show and its people all these years. And if we’ll get episodes like the last one (7.04) I am a very happy camper!
LikeLike
Totally agree with your interpretation. I doubt he would leave before the end. If that will be season 8 and he’s happy with that, then I will be too.
But there will be no Five-0 without him. No Alex, no H50. Simple as that.
I hope he will get a few not so heavy on action episodes, so he can rest up some. I do love the action, but his health is more important. I hope they take good care of their star.
LikeLike
awa hugs they will do take care of eachother its beautyful thg one hurts they all hurt there very tight knit hugs yr right we should all offerhim some good tips on back thngs lol hugs hed luv that
LikeLike
It will be a sad day if Alex makes the final date to leave the show but l can see what he is saying and it’s only right that he puts his health first ,l would miss him so so much but hopefully he will do something that will keep him in our sights ,but until that dreadful date comes l will always follow what he does and enjoy it and love him for doing so.keep safe Alex xx
LikeLike
hugs u got tht right well c wht happens hugs
LikeLike
I totally agree with your interpretation. These words just don’t ring true to me
LikeLike
I am amazed at the comments we get on Facebook on this post. Most probably most did not even read my thoughts.
It is as if people think he will leave H50 tomorrow. I mean even if Season 8 is the last, that is still only in May 2018 that it will come to an end.
And people who actually think that Alex will leave before the show gets canceled, or that the show will continue in any way without him as Steve, is beyond my comprehension
LikeLike
Indeed, Alex would never split in the middle of a contract. But folks always over react to anything he says. As sweet and generous as he is, he is constantly being vilified by some fan or other for not doing exactly what they want, like a trained circus animal.
LikeLike
That is really easy why there are some strange comments all over the place… many people don’t think before they speak. In easy terms, some people just don’t think. Period.
LikeLike
hugs well we knw hes thnkin and natural theopy would be great after all the island very healin from wht i hear
LikeLike
I dunno guys…he says he signed a new 2year contract after S6 to work thru S8. IF Show does well enough next year to go with S9, they would need to negotiate yet another new contract with Alex. I hope he is making more money each year, and certainly with each new contract. Also we don’t know what other actors have contracts that are up. So the network might have to shell out some major cash to go beyond S8, and not just with Alex. They will weigh whether the US ratings and international cashola would warrant more seasons. Due to varying contracts, it gets more complicated from here I think.
Tho I’d love for Show to continue…with no more boo boos for Alex, of course.
LikeLike
lol boo boos lol he does tend to do that allot his poor forehead and doent he simply look adoreable hes one ive notice the changes and he jst keeps getin more adoreabl hugs guys
LikeLike
I agree with you gracenotpark. I read this from the perspective that I don’t see much more the show can do, as much as I am not ready to say goodbye to Steve McGarrett. Also, they already have major scheduling conflicts with Scott, and DDK has other endeavors as well. Two years down the road, negotiating to keep the crew together may be difficult. As much as we have certain characters we prefer not seeing, once shows do a major change of cast they tend to lose a bit of steam (I do admit, NCIS has been very successful despite multiple changes, but I don’t think H50 is quite up to that bar).
Like I said, I am not ready to say goodbye to Steve, but I am ready for AOL to get to expand his career. He most definitely needs to get healthy because he is too young to stop playing action roles, but there are so many other genres he can shine in.
I know they have been passing off more and more of his action scenes to his stunt double, but there is a part of me that thinks Steve needs to be bedridden for a couple of episodes to give Alex’s body a break. It doesn’t take much to damage an already damaged back since our core is used in every movement we do, and running jars it no matter how routine the running is.
I hope they have him a staff of therapists – physical, massage, etc. to keep him as healthy as possible. It is amazing what PT can fix in our skeletal system.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on alixia94's Blog.
LikeLike
Personally I think anytime an article is written it’s written with a spin on it to attract more interest and publicity. In these dys the media puts a certain spin or their personal interpretation on interviews to generate attention. After something that happened a few weeks ago on social media I’ve gotten to the point that if there is not an official announcement I don’t bother to believe a word that is written.
LikeLike
Personally I think anytime an article is written it’s written with a spin on it to attract more interest and publicity. <<<<<< 100% agree.
Some journalists do not even really know what the show is really all about. They just make up stuff to get readers to buy their news.
LikeLike
I believe that this article is accurate. Alex broke the news first to an Australian newspaper. He loves his homeland and he’s always been fiercely loyal to Australia, so it makes sense to me that he’d tell them first. He needs to get the information out there. It was huge news when he openly discussed his back injury at SOTB, saying that the writers were going to have to deal with it and adapt scripts differently to write around it. That’s a big deal. Injuries are game changers.
I read on boards last year that the Season Six Finale was written as a possible series finale, because the executives weren’t sure if the show would get picked up for a seventh year. It felt like a series finale to me. I read that they got the renewal announcement literally when they were shooting the last days of the season finale last year. Good news!!
At the beginning of the series, Alex said that he’d signed a seven-year contract. I bet all cast members signed a seven year contract at that time to lock them in to the show. So, it’s interesting that now he says that he signed a new contract in season six, to extend to Season Seven and Eight, should both seasons happen. I hope his agent negotiated a huge salary increase for him for those last two season!! He sure deserves it.
I’m going to cherish each moment of each episode and really believe that CBS will extend the series to an eighth year. That’s a really long time to be chasing the bad guys!
LikeLike
I did not say that what Alex said here was not accurate – I said that the part the journalist filled in and interpreted and made headlines off, is a bit missrepresenting or twisted of his actual words on here.
They all sign new contracts every couple of years (not the same as the initial 7 year contract of commitment in order to get the role in the beginning of the series) It is to negotiate salary and schedules according to how popular the show is and what the actors needs might be at the time etc etc.
That is how Scott got reduced time since Season 4.
But signing those contracts does not mean that the show will even be renewed for season 8. That would still be hanging in the balance till closer to the end of the season when the network decide.
For me it is all about what Alex would like for his career and personal life. I think it remains a tug of war even in his own mind. The need for something new and maybe more rewarding, against the security and the safety of having a job close to home.
LikeLike
Concordo! Alex deve sentir que precisa de algo novo, para se sentir renovado!
LikeLike
Hmm… Alex wants to throw a football with his grandkids. How old is Saxon? Alex was only 20 when he presented his parents with a grandchild. A little granddaughter would be perfect for him.
LikeLike
i did the same math when i first read the article! I do hope he advises Saxon to wait until he has a stable family situation before giving him grandchildren. Alex one time said he knew he had done things a bit backwards.
LikeLike
Wasn’t most of CBS’s shows renewed very early…like in February? The season finale was filmed in April, and we knew well before that H50 had been renewed. Maybe Alex is conflicted, and I understand that. JL lasted 12 years because he did ZERO stunts. The nature of the show is like a self fulfilling prophecy as far as physically being able to continue. I’ll enjoy H50 for as long as it exists.
LikeLike
Jack Lord did some stunts. That was him jumping off a boat into the ocean in “Nine Dragons,” in 1976. He also did some fight scenes in other episodes, but not every stunt. He had a stuntman named John Nordlum who did a lot of stunts for him, but it was not as though Jack did none at all.
LikeLike
I tend to agree with your thoughts. I seem to remember an interview at the end of Season 4 I think where they made it seem like he only wanted 1 more season and then he wound up publishing a retraction/correction a few months later saying how fulfilling the show was and he spoke of the stunts back then. So I think you are right, stories get published with interesting tag lines. But whatever happens I’m grateful for every week i get to see this gorgeous man on TV. Thanks.
LikeLike
I agree with your take on this article and that Alex is possibly conflicted about H5-0 continuing to a S-8 or beyond. And I’m with you, I want Alex to enjoy what he’s doing, as long as he’s happy, I’ll be happy for him.
LikeLike
Most amazing thing to me was that I saw the article in a Melbourne publication b4 it was on here!! Could hardly believe it! In keeping with a lot of TV promotion for H50 which we never usually see here, attached of course to the new MacGyver series. We even have S703 showing next Sat. Much earlier than previous seasons. Ah well whatever works to keep Alex on our screens.
Back to the article tho, so much of it repeats what Alex has said before. Doesn’t make sense to me this would be announced to an Australian journalist in Australia first, rather than in US.
LikeLike
Do we know what injury Alex sustained to his back? I know he has referred to it, but what did he do? Blow a disc, tear muscles? Anybody know?
LikeLike
If this information is true, I’m glad that Alex has at least mentioned an end date. I hope his new contract included a substantial upgrade in pay. When I saw recently, a list of the salaries of a lot of tv stars, with not half the appeal that Alex has, I almost choked !!
LikeLike
I agree with your thoughts FOYUER. These reporters like to spin a comment to make it more sensational to get as many hits as possible on a story.
We don’t know the extent of Alex’s latest back injury so it’s understandable he may have mentioned curbing some of the “action” or stunts. It doesn’t mean he want’s to call it quits after 8. He’s just trying to take care of himself physically now that he’s turned THE DREADED 40. 😉 I just turned the dreaded 50 so he’ got nothing to fear for at least 10 years before AARP comes a knockin’ LOL
Like leiCa said, Alex ” always was a team player.” After all he’s the Leeeead and will stay to the end. Be that 7, 8 or even 12 seasons.
We’re all on this ride with him and will enjoy every minute his “crazy choice of career” gives him. I just hope, after H5-0, wherever he goes next we can still follow. ♥
BTW Dq Saxon turned 19 this last July. 😉
LikeLike
Hey Kath…AARP came knocking on my door years ago! But you know that. What I wouldn’t give to be 40…or even 50. LOL
LikeLike
My thoughts on this article: I would actually appreciate it if the show came to an end after season 8 – for selfish reasons (I want to see Alex in a larger variety of roles) and for Alex’s sake (staying physically healthy and exploring more roles).
But I also wanted to share something with you that I’m sure you’ll love to hear. Last weekend I was at the German Comic Con in Berlin and had the chance to talk to James Marsters (Spike in “Buffy” but also Victor Hesse in H5-0) and told him that I loved seeing him as the very first villain on H5-0. When I sort of apologized that I wanted to watch the show because of Alex O’Loughlin he burst out immediately: “Alex is such a great guy! It’s absolutely OK to have a crush on him!” He also expressed his admiration for Alex’s stunt skills and talked really enthusiastically about how the two of them were allowed to do their own fight scene. I could really feel that he honestly has great respect and admiration for Alex. To be honest: Alex hadn’t been on top of my list of crushes for a while, but the way James talked about him made me remember what it is that makes Alex so appealing: It’s not just his looks, acting skills and fighting skills – it’s also his kind and open personality.
Just wanted to share that with some like-minded individuals… 😉
Singende Lehrerin aka Frelling Fangirl 🙂
LikeLike
What a wonderful world we live in. Thank you for sharing your encounter with James Marsters. Victor Hesse was a great villain for Steve McGarrett and set in motion many of the story lines for the first few years of the show. Alex wasn’t really on my radar either, until I seriously began to watch Hawaii 5-O. Then I fell for the guy.
I love watching him at the SOTB events, especially this year when I was able to see videos of him and his fans. He’s wonderful with his fans, sweet, funny, teasing. I love all the selfies he takes with anyone who asks, often doing goofy faces and generally looking like he’s having lots of fun. He moves in close and really embraces the person, too. On the gag reels, Alex is always the funniest guy around, lightening the mood, making funny faces, and just generally making fun of himself whenever he goofs up. He keeps the mood of the set loose, relaxed, fun and happy.
He looks like he’d be a blast to spend time with. He’d keep me laughing all the time. There’s no ego there. It’s all about the work and honorably giving the very best performance possible. Sounds like lots of people who are lucky enough to know him and who’ve worked with him have a huge crush on him, too. We’re in good company!
LikeLike
Thanks for your feedback – and amen to your last two sentences! 😉
LikeLike
Good to hear from you again.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts about your feelings about Alex. It happens to me time and time again, that when I read things others say about Alex, I feel like he is worth it all.
My thoughts on this article: I would actually appreciate it if the show came to an end after season 8 – for selfish reasons (I want to see Alex in a larger variety of roles) and for Alex’s sake (staying physically healthy and exploring more roles). <<<< Could not agree with you more. But as I said to others as well, as long as it is also Alex's wish. I think a big part of him would like to move on as well.
I know it will be difficult to follow his career when he is no longer tied down in Hawaii, but I sincerely hope I still get to see it and experience the excitement of new projects with him.
LikeLike
Yeah, I keep following your blog, even if quite passively, which is party due to the fact that I’m always more than a season behind you guys… 😉 It’s nice that I’m still remembered, though! 😉
From what we have seen from Alex in such roles as the feeder in “Feed”, I think he will not be content to play the same role for “the rest of his life”. Of course, as an actor you always have to consider that a role on a long-running TV show will give you a quite normal routine for a while – including good and constant money flowing in. Perfect for raising a family. But I believe that people choose an acting career because they enjoy exploring different characters.That’s why I think Alex will also be happy to move on after H5-0. Can’t wait to see how his career will develop.
By the way, I also talked to Greg Grunberg (Jeff Morrison in two H5-0 episodes) and asked him how he ended up on this show, and he said that they actually had wanted him to play Danny! But he didn’t want to move to Hawaii… He added that maybe this was the wrong decision, seing how long the show has been on TV now. 😉 Ever since then I’ve been trying to imagine him, instead of Scott Caan, and Alex bickering – as much as I like Greg, I think Scott was probably just the right choice.
LikeLike