Alex speaking to Grace Lee in Hawaii about the start of Three Rivers.
What makes this interview so interesting and funny, is that it was done the year before Alex actually moved to Hawaii and made Honolulu is the permanent home base. Who would have guessed back then in Sept 2009 how his life would change within that year? By the end of 2009 Three Rivers got cancelled and early the next year Alex found himself in Hawaii shooting the Pilot episode for Hawaii Five-0.
Sunrise on KGMB
Grace: Well, you know him as Mick St John in CBS vampire drama, Moonlight. And beginning this Sunday, actor Alex O’Loughlin will headline a new television drama. It is called Three Rivers. And he joins us live with much more. Good morning to you Alex.
Alex: Good morning Grace. How are you?
Grace: I’m doing great. Now, it’s kind of interesting. You’re going from a vampire investigator, to a transplant surgeon. So, they’re kind related, right? They both deal with blood. [Someone laughs in the studio with Grace]
Alex: Lots of blood, yeah. It’s just not … I’m not drinking it anymore.
Grace: That’s good.
Alex: I’ve gone and seen somebody about that, and I’m in a 12 step fellowship about that.
Grace: [Laughs]
Alex: …. just for today.
Grace: That would be a scary place to be. With everyone else in the 12 step program, I think.
Alex: Right. Can you imagine though? I’m in the middle of an operation, I get the heart in, we come off bypass. The heart starts beating and I’m like, “Thank god for that” [and shows how he drinks the blood]
Grace: Yeah, exactly. It’s like. “That blood infusion package, isn’t for the patient. It’s for me”
Alex: Yeah, I’ll have a packet of O-neg, and just you know …
Grace: [Laughs]
Alex: Yeah.
Grace: It’s got to be interesting to play a transplant surgeon. Because there’s got to be so much pressure on guys like this.
Alex: It’s incredible, you know. My character, Andy Yablonski, is based on a real-life character, called Gonzo Gonzalez-Stawinski. He’s …. He’s a staff-surgeon in Cleveland. At the Cleveland clinic.
And he …. I did all my research with him and I …. He’s become one of the core inspirations of my life. And a very, very dear friend, as well. And these people are AMAZING. I mean, not just Gonzo. I’m sure physicians all over the world. But what they do, for a living. How they deal with death every day. Their perceptions of life and death. Their philosophies on God and the afterlife. And if there is on. And their, just their … I mean, they are the most amazing people. And one of the biggest things that I’ve learned from these. Is that … is how to love the unlovable. Because that’s essentially what physicians all around the world do.
Grace: Hmmm
Alex: You know, they love everybody. They …. they … they can give unconditional love to everybody. I mean, it’s incredible.
Grace: You’re just full of love. I like … I like it a lot.
Alex: I myself, am not full of love. Especially, it’s [looking at his watch]… it’s early here.
Grace: [Laughs]
Alex: [laughs] No, but it’s just ….
Grace: I could see you are rubbing your eyes during the commercial break.
Alex: [Shows how he rubs his eyes] No, but it’s … it’s been … it’s been a great … it’s a challenging role for me. That is a challenging place to get to. To be able to reach out and touch and give that. ‘Cos, I mean, it’s not … it doesn’t come naturally for me. That’s not who I am. It’s not … so it’s great in my life. I get to experiment … I get to play all these characters and ….and … each one of them challenges me in a different way. And that’s the key challenge with this guy.
Grace: Alex, I’m going to ask you something that I read about you. It said that you were actually up for the James Bond role, but Daniel Craig actually got the role
Alex: [Rolling his eyes, and laughs]
Grace: How do you prepare for that? Do you have to like look in the mirror and do the, “Bond, James Bond” bit?
Alex: [Holding his hands like a gun] That one?
Grace: Yeah, yeah. [Laughs]
Alex: Yeah, look that was a while ago now. And it’s funny. Because, I get asked about that so much and it … it’s like the job I job … I didn’t get. It’s like, “So, tell us about the job you didn’t get” …
Grace: [Laughs]
Alex: … “that you weren’t good enough for”…
Grace: [Laughs]
Alex: … “That must have been … that … and that was a huge job too, right?”…
Grace: [Laughs]
Alex: ….“That must have been a monumental disappointment!”…
Grace: Alright, I am sorry
Alex: …“How does it feel then?” …
Grace: I’m sorry, okay.
Alex: [Laughs] …. “Let’s go through that again. Let’s do a blow by blow, shell we?”
Grace: [Joking] Yeah, what about that horrible break-up you had? Shall we talk about that too?
Alex: “Yeah, let’s do that. Yes! This is the best interview, ever!” [Laughs]
Grace: Alright, okay. I officially apologize, Alex. Okay, I won’t ask anymore.
Alex: No, it’s … Grace, look I’m …. Basically, they said you’re talking to Grace in Honolulu, I was like, “That sounds so nice”
Grace: [Laughs] Wipe those tears away.
Alex: That was a long time ago.
Grace: Tough it up.
Alex: Okay [Wiping his fake tears]
Grace: You’re a transplant surgeon now.
Alex: I’ve just .. I’ve been crying all morning, now. You know what, that was a big … That was a big audition. You know, I flew to London, for a week, I think. With Martin Campbell. And I met the Broccoli family, who you know, own the empire. I was … I guess I was in the running for it, and it went to the best man.
But it was an incredible experience. The actual screentest was at Pinewood studios. It went for 11 hours
Grace: Oh, wow!
Alex: We essentially shot a day of the movie. And it was … it was .. it was … it was the most excruciating “audition”, I’ve ever been on. But it was incredible. It was so much fun. And by the end of the day, I’d …. I really sort of felt like … I felt like I got under the skin of the character.
Grace: Yeah.
Alex: And I know that if it comes up again, I’d know where James Bond is within me.
Grace: Where you’ll go with it.
Alex, I am sorry, my producer is yelling at me. We ran out of time…
Alex: Yeah, they’re yelling at me too.
Grace: I don’t want to mess up the rest of your interviews today. I do apologize. Make sure to tune into Three Rivers with Alex O’Loughlin. The show premieres Sunday night. Right here on KBMG9 at 8.
Alex: [Alex salutes]
Grace: Thanks a lot Alex
Alex: Thanks, Grace.
Link to Video
Alex O´Loughlin ~ An Intense Study 