Our wonderful friend and research helper again reminded me of a Facebook post from way back in 2010, and it got me thinking …. about roles and opportunities and what life in the entertainment business is like for an actor.
At the beginning of 2005,Alex moved from Australia to the USA and more specifically Hollywood. That was 5 years after he formally started his career by enrolling at NIDA for training and 2 years after graduation and doing some TV and Film work in Australia.
This is the old post of Landall Goolsby where he is talking about when Alex moved to LA in 2005 and where he was 5 years later.
Landall’s Box Office (8 August 2010) I was the first American to greet Alex O Laughlin when his plane arrived at LAX. I drove him around for the next three weeks to auditions. I worked for his manager at the time. and now five years, three TV SERIES later he is in THE BACK UP PLAN. True Hollywood Story. He is also the male lead of the CBS SHOW HAWAII FIVE O.
And he added in a comment:
Landall’s Box Office: He [Alex] actually was offered a series regular on NCIS and his visa could not get worked out for him to accept the job. I truly believe that show is perfectly cast now and it is one of my favorites to watch. Would have been different show.
We presume he was offered that part right at the beginning of his time in LA, when the two of them had contact.
And one can only wonder what would have happened if Alex landed a role in NCIS back in 2005, on a show who is still running all these many years later ……
It has been two years since the end of Hawaii Five-0.Two years of rest from acting for Alex, of the 17 years in which he has been in Hollywood, and of the 19 years since he graduated. It might seem long and it also might seem that he’s got a short resume to show for it – and that he should rush to do more. But I want to put the 10 years of Hawaii Five-0 in better perspective.
Two Hundred and Forty (240) Episodes = 9600 minutes of TV = 160 hours – That is equivalent to 80 movies that are 2 hours long each.
Let that sink in a bit – 80 movies in 10 years.
That is fantastic success in any Hollywood story – 240 Episodes as lead on a TV series watched by millions not only in America but around the world!
Okay, I will agree that for a new role in a movie and a new character, one needs to maybe train, prepare and probably learn a new accent and relocate for a few months and spend hours on interviews and promoting the movie – something that you do not need to do when you play one character all the time.
But even taking that into account and just looking at the time spent acting, learning the dialogue for it, and doing the action and stunts for it, still makes it equivalent to a vast number of movies.
How many actors do 40 movies in 10 years, much less 80?
Add to that the other television work Alex did in the 4 years before that:
7 Episodes on The Shield, made in 2006 (maybe equivalent to work on 2 movies)
16 Episode on Moonlight in 2007 & 2008 (maybe can add up to working on 5 movies)
13 Episodes on Three Rivers in 2009 (maybe 4 movies)
And then the 4 movies he made in Hollywoodin this 5 years before H50:
The Invisible, August Rush, Whiteout, and The Back-Up Plan
Together, that would add another 15 to the 80 of H50. It is like acting (working hard) on 95 “movies” in 15 years (2005 to 2020) – 6 movies a year!
I agree that actors who work in the leading man bracket like Alex, are compensated very well for their work. But on the other hand, nothing in comparison to those real big movie stars and leads, who earn 10 times more for one movie than Alex would have earned for 10 months of hard work on 1 whole season (24 episodes) as lead on Hawaii Five-0.
Yes, most television actors work long and hard hours for their money in comparison to those actors who are in movies.
Therefore, I wish Alex all the time of rest that he needs to get his mojo back and get ready for something new. And hopefully, he will choose acting again. And one can only wish that he will be offered a few movie roles.
We just have to hope that these “80 Hawaii Five-0movies” and the creative doldrum of being one character in the 10 years, did not put Alex off acting forever.
Many other leading television actors have stayed just as long and even much longer in the roles – but most of them were offered a bigger input into the direction the show took and the creative process of it.
Alex did get a chance to direct three and write one episode, and he was listed as producer, in the last season. But he had no real say in where the show was at, or where it was going – that right belonged to Peter Lenkov and CBS.
“Television is very exhausting. You kind of forfeit your life to work in TV.
With this show the work just keeps coming.
It just doesn’t stop, and so you kind of do it and it’s gone and you’re on to the next thing. But it never goes away.”
I enjoyed reading this about Alex. Thank you for sharing this story of his first coming here. I love Alex O’loughlin and when he decides to come back we will welcome him with loving arms.
Wow that is a lot of hard work. It’s very understandable why he stoped Hawaii Five-O. I can only make a deep bow for this man.
Still hope to see him acting again.
Alex O’Loughlin doesn’t get Enough support or Credit or Thanks for what he puts himself through & he does so much for his Fans Alex is a AMAZING GUY and Kind Hearted he deserves so appreciation so much more than he is getting now
Thank you for this post! I very much enjoyed reading it. The only thing we as fans can do is try to support this awesome man and artist in any way we can in whatever he chooses to do. I don´t know whether this show killed his career and I really hope, it didn´t. I wished we could tell TPTB how much we want him back (any idea here except posting on their facebook page?).
He is one of the rare people who is not only superbe in his work but also a good person whom you just can like and admire a lot and he so deserves the best in his life and his career. Just sorry he had to go through all he did during the last 10yers+.
I’d never have thought of assessing Alex’s career the way you have done, in such a statistical way: 6 movies a year in 15 years. That’s neat! But it’s true only if one refers to shooting hours.
I am afraid, though, that TPTB don’t see it this way. Alex may have given ten years of his life to H50, he may have put his soul and his health into it, but in the end, for “they”, it is one big TV role and one big movie role (TBP).
Have 10 years of H50 pigeon-holed him? That’s something I often wonder. When I’m disheartened or tired, I think of many actors/actresses who shone in a show and passed into near oblivion when it ended. Matthew Fox who starred in ‘Lost’, for example. He really did very little after the show. When I’m in high spirit, I think of George Clooney who has worked nonstop after 6 years in ‘ER’. But then he had no pandemic hiatus. In fact, he had no hiatus at all.
What worries me is that long silence from Alex. Not to know if this silence is his own choice or the result of receiving no offers or the price we fans have to pay before we see the fantastic project he’s working on, is killing me.
I know, I know, he now has an agent, and it all takes time, but the silence… 😢😢😢!
Don´t worry too much. It´s not over until it´s over. And I think, Alex will let us know when he thinks, it´s over. There is certainly more than one option for work he has, multi-talented like he is. Something will work out.
Thank you for this great post, Foyeur. I always thought Alex was the machine that propelled the HF-O vehicle, and made the show the success that it was. He gave everything he had, both physically and mentally. Producers should be scrambling to get him on board, because they would never have an actor more passionate and dedicated.
Despite being the lead actor in a hit series for ten years, attitudes in Hollywood are ‘what have you done lately.’ Actors don’t often get roles handed to them, so I believe Alex will pursue whatever interests him. The wait does seem interminable, though.
Wow, what an awesome post.
You put Alex work in 5-0 and the things he did right before in perspective in such an explicit and significant way. I always said he is a committed, diligent, hard-working actor, who never asked for a special treatment; can’t say that about everyone. Obviously he is of a different stamp. I never thought of doing ‘the count’ of his work so this is impressive reading it and thinking about it. Just wow.
(And another wow goes out to the guy working for Alex’ manager who can’t even spell his name right. Ugh)
Paula, you chose awesome pics. The last gif kills me. And the spotted spots. And the PoP. And chest hair peekaboo. And the eyebrow roof in the making. Roofing is a thing with Alex, not only the brows, lol.
Alex O´Loughlin ~ An Intense Study 
I enjoyed reading this about Alex. Thank you for sharing this story of his first coming here. I love Alex O’loughlin and when he decides to come back we will welcome him with loving arms.
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Wow that is a lot of hard work. It’s very understandable why he stoped Hawaii Five-O. I can only make a deep bow for this man.
Still hope to see him acting again.
Mahalo and Aloha from the Netherlands
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Totally agree with you, Coby. If only all actors were like this man. It would be a much better industry!
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It definitelly would. Well said.
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Alex O’Loughlin doesn’t get Enough support or Credit or Thanks for what he puts himself through & he does so much for his Fans Alex is a AMAZING GUY and Kind Hearted he deserves so appreciation so much more than he is getting now
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Alex is s superb actor. He is the whole package. I wish him the very best life has to offer.
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Amazing man and amazing story. Thank you for keeping us informed and his legacy a life.
Fan from Canada
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Thank you for this post! I very much enjoyed reading it. The only thing we as fans can do is try to support this awesome man and artist in any way we can in whatever he chooses to do. I don´t know whether this show killed his career and I really hope, it didn´t. I wished we could tell TPTB how much we want him back (any idea here except posting on their facebook page?).
He is one of the rare people who is not only superbe in his work but also a good person whom you just can like and admire a lot and he so deserves the best in his life and his career. Just sorry he had to go through all he did during the last 10yers+.
LikeLike
I’d never have thought of assessing Alex’s career the way you have done, in such a statistical way: 6 movies a year in 15 years. That’s neat! But it’s true only if one refers to shooting hours.
I am afraid, though, that TPTB don’t see it this way. Alex may have given ten years of his life to H50, he may have put his soul and his health into it, but in the end, for “they”, it is one big TV role and one big movie role (TBP).
Have 10 years of H50 pigeon-holed him? That’s something I often wonder. When I’m disheartened or tired, I think of many actors/actresses who shone in a show and passed into near oblivion when it ended. Matthew Fox who starred in ‘Lost’, for example. He really did very little after the show. When I’m in high spirit, I think of George Clooney who has worked nonstop after 6 years in ‘ER’. But then he had no pandemic hiatus. In fact, he had no hiatus at all.
What worries me is that long silence from Alex. Not to know if this silence is his own choice or the result of receiving no offers or the price we fans have to pay before we see the fantastic project he’s working on, is killing me.
I know, I know, he now has an agent, and it all takes time, but the silence… 😢😢😢!
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Don´t worry too much. It´s not over until it´s over. And I think, Alex will let us know when he thinks, it´s over. There is certainly more than one option for work he has, multi-talented like he is. Something will work out.
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I am sure he’s got offers lying on his desk. He talked about it in the Pac Bleu interview.
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Thank you for this great post, Foyeur. I always thought Alex was the machine that propelled the HF-O vehicle, and made the show the success that it was. He gave everything he had, both physically and mentally. Producers should be scrambling to get him on board, because they would never have an actor more passionate and dedicated.
Despite being the lead actor in a hit series for ten years, attitudes in Hollywood are ‘what have you done lately.’ Actors don’t often get roles handed to them, so I believe Alex will pursue whatever interests him. The wait does seem interminable, though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, what an awesome post.
You put Alex work in 5-0 and the things he did right before in perspective in such an explicit and significant way. I always said he is a committed, diligent, hard-working actor, who never asked for a special treatment; can’t say that about everyone. Obviously he is of a different stamp. I never thought of doing ‘the count’ of his work so this is impressive reading it and thinking about it. Just wow.
(And another wow goes out to the guy working for Alex’ manager who can’t even spell his name right. Ugh)
Paula, you chose awesome pics. The last gif kills me. And the spotted spots. And the PoP. And chest hair peekaboo. And the eyebrow roof in the making. Roofing is a thing with Alex, not only the brows, lol.
LikeLike