Oyster Farmer Trivia – #AlexOLoughlin’s Debut as a Leading Man

Going back to the start of Alex’s career as a leading man in the Australian movie Oyster Farmer, released in 2005.

Some parts of this was once a post on AOLR and the information is mostly derived from the extras on the DVD.

Nominated for Best Picture at the 2005 AFI awards, OYSTER FARMER, written and directed by Anna Reeves world premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was one of the highest grossing independent films at the Australian box office.

The film launched Alex O’Loughlin’s career and stars Jack Thompson, Kerry Armstrong and David Field and is set on the beautiful Hawkesbury River outside Sydney.

Notably OYSTER FARMER was selected as the opening film for the Commonwealth film festival.

Released June 2005

‘A remarkably assured debut for writer/director Anna Reeves, whose characters have enough grit to turn an oyster into a pearl… The best Australian film of the year’

Urban Cinefile

• Oyster Farmer was filmed in late 2003 during the spring/early summer (in Australia) and took 33 days to shoot. (Remember Spring in Australia is around September to November)
• The filming locations along the Hawkesbury River were so remote, that only four of the 19 locations were accessible by road.

• The river’s tide moves rapidly between high and low, so shooting schedules and crew call times had to be planned with the help of a tide chart.
• In some locations the crew found themselves knee-deep in water at high tide and the entire production was stranded one night in the rain on mudflats.

• “The tide waits for no-one,” was a phrase the crew used a lot.
• Many local oyster farmers had speaking and non-speaking parts in the film.

• Scaffolder Gary Henderson (Oyster Farmer Barry) was found on a building site by Alex O’Loughlin, who recommended him to Anna Reeves.
• As writer/director Anna Reeves had written the role of Brownie’s wife, Trish, with Kerry Armstrong in mind. She was one of the first actors to be cast.

• Finding someone to play the lead role of Jack Flange was more challenging.

“You go down to the beach and there’s all these gorgeous young men who could play Jack Flange but they probably couldn’t act their way out of a paper bag,” Anna says.

“I had to find an actor who was convincing as a man oyster farmers would give a job to, he had to look like he’d done hard physical work. But I knew I would recognize the qualities when I found the right actor

…….and Alex walked in. He was so keen and I knew he would have the courage to play the role and give it his all.”

• David Field (Brownie) and Alex O’Loughlin (Jack Flange), went camping on the banks of the Hawkesbury to immerse themselves in the river life and get acquainted with the locals prior to shooting the film. Alex recalls,

“We hired a boat, found a little beach somewhere up the river and rolled out our swags. We went fishing, ate fresh fish, talked about the script… it was great.

It’s so peaceful on the river, the air is clean, there’s wildlife and trees. It has its own little sub-climate and that has an interesting effect on you.”

• David Field says of Alex O’Loughlin and Diana Glenn (Pearl) that they are

“wonderful discoveries, with great chemistry on screen.”

• Alex O’Loughlin bonded with Brady Kitchingham, the boy who played Heath Sweetwater.
• As Australia Post did not want to be associated with a robbery, even a fictitious one, the production had to create their own postal services for the film: Allied Post. As the local post office in Brooklyn, where Oyster Farmer was filmed, was privately owned, the customization was easily implemented.

• Producer Anthony Buckley states in the DVD commentary that the bathtub Mumbles renovated for Trish stands on his veranda. It’s

“operational but I can tell you, it’s bloody uncomfortable.”

• Mature women would continually ask Anthony Buckley about Alex’s tattoos.

“‘Are the tats real, Tony?’ ‘Yes, they are, much to the make-up artist’s consternation.’

They seem to be quite intrigued with Alex’s tats, so I hope he realizes that if he’s interested in older women. There’s a mature market”.

• Alex O’Loughlin had to eat a lot of boysenberry fruit wrap for the robbery scene, which was inspired by Australian icon Edward “Ned” Kelly.

• Anna Reeves says that

“you had to have a great sense of humour to be part of Oyster Farmer.”

Two memorable occasions for her:

o “… like the sex scene with what feels like the Spanish Armada parked off the end of the jetty.”

o There was only one morning available to shoot the train sequence, with just seven minutes on the line between the two stops they wanted to shoot. They were allowed to get on the train going one way, but they weren’t permitted to go back as it was peak time going to Sydney.

“We’d have to pack up and pile out at the station, make a mad dash across the tracks and leap into a boat with two massive motors — and we’d literally race the train back down the tracks, carry our gear across the overpass over the station, and wait on the platform for the next train to come. It was like making a documentary – guerilla style and highly entertaining as well.”

 Short clip from a video review about Oyster Farmer:

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A post shared by Alex O'Loughlin Intense Study (@alexoloughlin_intensestudy)

Transcript:

Anna: I’ve been asked about Alex.

And … “Where did you find Alex?” .. “Where does Alex come from?“

And that’s so exciting. ‘Cos, you know, when you casting ….. that’s why  … that’s why you cast.

You think, you know, “This is a leading man” and I’m going to ….  you know …. and try and give him a platform.

And when you know that it’s worked, it’s really, really satisfying.

I always find this little interview so cute – Highly pregnant Anna Reeves getting so excited about the young Alex.

And Alex just sitting there – maybe the only time we have even seen him not trying to also say something. 🙂

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#AlexOLoughlin Best Hair – It’s a Poll x2

We have not done a poll for a long time and I got this titbit from a post on Moonlight Fan Blog.  I thought we could use it as a starting point for a poll. Unfortunately I could not locate the original EW post about it anymore, but here is what I found on the blog.

On the PopWatch Blog, Michael Slezak asked Entertainment Weekly’s readers to nominate the best and worst TV hair. Of course…. Mick was not only nominated, he was selected as a winner.

It seems as if Alex was not only seen as one of the sexiest stars on TV in those Moonlight days, but that his hair was well liked as well. This made me think that we should ask how the fans feel about his hair in the various roles over the past 15 years. (not all the roles are included)

Here is our first poll. Take a look at Alex’s  hair over the years before Hawaii Five-0. The hair from which role do you like best? (Remember, it is about the HAIR 😉 😉 )

 

(1) ‘White Collar’ Blue hair (Alex in 2003 as Ian Mack in an episode of this TV series)

(2) ‘Oyster Farmer’ Hair (Alex as Jack Flange in this movie filmed in 2003)

(3) ‘Black Jack Sweet Science’ Hair (Alex as Luke Anderson in this 2004 TV Drama)

(4) ‘Mary Bryant’ Hair (Alex plays Will Bryant in this TV Drama that was filmed during the last 3 months of 2004)

(5) ‘Feed’ Hair (Alex as Michael Carter in this movie filmed in the beginning of 2005)

(6) ‘The Invisible’ Hair (Alex as Marcus Bohem in this movie, filmed at the end of 2005)

(7) ‘August Rush’ Hair (Alex as Marshall Connelly in this movie, filmed in 2006)

 

(8) ‘The Shield’ Hair (Alex as Kevin Hiatt in this TV series filmed in 2006)

(9) ‘Whiteout’ Hair (Alex as Russell Haden in this movie filmed in 2007)

(10) ‘Moonlight’ Hair (Alex as Mick St John in the TV series filmed from August 2007 – April 2008)

 

(11) ‘Criminal Minds’ Hair (Alex as Vincent Rowlings  in an episode of this TV Series)

 

(12) ‘The Back-Up Plan’ Hair (Alex as Stan in this movie, filmed in 2009)

(7) ‘Three Rivers’ Hair (Alex as Andy Yablonski in this TV series, filmed in 2009)

You can vote for the 3 hairstyles that you like best

 

• And here is our second poll. Take a look at Steve McGarrett’s hair over the years. The hair from which season do you like best? (and again just a reminder that it is about the hair 🙂 )

‘Hawaii Five-0’ Hair

Season 1 Hair

Season 2 Hair

Season 3 Hair

Season 4 Hair

Season 5 Hair

Season 6 Hair

Season 7 Hair

Season 8 Hair

Cast your vote for your favourite Steve-hair season here:

Hope you enjoyed all the ‘hair’ pictures …….. 😛

#AlexOLoughlin – The world really is his oyster – August 2005

The world really is his oyster

The Cairns Post / The Cairns Sun

20 August 2005

(The original article seems to be lost, but I found this version of it on

Alex O’Loughlin Fan.com

(Just some trivia – this is the correct direction of this picture)

It’s no surprise these days to find that just when an actor makes a name for himself with the Australian public, he’s already packed up and moved to LA. Alex O’Lachlan, star of the new film Oyster Farmer, is no different.

“My experience is that there’s f—all work here,” the 28-year-old says on a brief visit home to promote the movie.

“And to pay your mortgage, or to pay just to live and to feed your kids, to support your partner and support yourself, you have to work. I think an actor gets to the stage where he goes: ‘Well I’d really like to make a living as an actor instead of waiting on tables or cleaning toilets or whatever’.

So if your passion is to pursue that, you sometimes have to go overseas.”

O’Lachlan, who appeared in White Collar Blue and Black Jack before Oyster Farmer is hesitant to talk about the sorry state of the Australian film industry because he says he’s not privy to meetings where significant issues such as funding are decided.

“Over the past few years, I’ve constantly heard people in the industry say it’s going to be fine, and I hope it is, but it’s scary what’s happening and it’s scary what’s not happening,” he says.

Making the jump to LA was tough on many levels. O’Lachlan has a son at primary school and living on the NSW coast.

“And I’ve been questioned by younger actors about my motivation, getting this sort of, ‘You should be staying here’,” he says.

“I don’t give a f—. I’m a human as well. I can tell human stories. I don’t care if it’s in an American accent, an Irish accent or a Lithuanian accent. What difference does it make?”

Though he’s now busy doing the LA audition shuffle, the NIDA graduate is also doing his bit to get the ball rolling back home. He and Oyster Farmer co-star Jack Thompson have started their own production company and have already wrapped their first feature.

“Yeah, can’t get rid of him,” O’Lachlan jokes of his relationship with the veteran Thompson.

“We’ve done three films together, the last one called Feed. The inception of that film was in my lounge room with Jack and his son, Pat, and an American director who now lives here, Brett Leonard.”

“Myself and Jack have become great mates. We realised that what we want for the industry and what we think movies should be about was the same.”

Feed, due out next year, is a dark story of sexual perversion. The low-key Oyster Farmer is at the other end of the spectrum – a gentle story of a runaway city lad who takes a job on the Hawkesbury River and whose life changes as he mingles with the eccentric characters along the river’s banks.

With David Field and Kerry Armstrong also in the cast, he was in experienced company.

“You feel so safe as a young actor with those people around you,” he says.

“They will actually pull you aside and word you up on things, so I got a lot of guidance.”

Oyster Farmer is now showing in Cairns cinemas.

My Thoughts

• Interesting interview. I always prefer to see Alex in person on videos rather that to read what he said. There is normally so much more behind his words with body language than what a reporter chose to write.

#AlexOLoughlin – Talking about Jack, on the set of Oyster Farmer (2003)

Today I had this longing to visit young Alex. So let’s go back to the early years, there back in late 2003, while Alex filmed ‘Oyster Farmer’. I think this must have been one of the very first interviews Alex ever did as an actor.

Question: How would you describe your character, ‘Jack’?

Alex: I mean, I think it is …. I think it is about ….. I mean Jack, he’s a bloke, I mean, he’s an Aussie bloke and he’s got …… he’s sort of …. he’s a little bit ostentatious and a little bit obnoxious and really very sort of cheeky. And ah …. But it’s not … he’s not like … he’s really sensitive as well, you know what I mean?

This story is about ….  this story is about this kid who ends up in the scrub, you know. For really the first time in his life. He’s really a city kid and he finds a family, you know. He finds a group of people who he relates to as a family. And he finds people who love him just because of who he is, and ….he finds …. You know,  like all sorts of things that he did not know he needed.

And so I think that there’s …. you know, it’s so layered, you know. There’s so many elements to the story that are really important. Because I think Aussie men, gets seen in Australia, but also internationally…….. or can be seen as, just blokes you know, just sort of yeah ……. just yeah ….

Question: Would you call this story a very Australian love story?

Alex: Yeah, and I think that …. you know, it’s that funny thing. I mean, I know as an Australian male, my mates and I joke about that sort of stuff all the time, you know.

And I mean, falling in love is such a big thing, you know. And it’s so important.

And you know, all of the greatest songs ever written, are written about sort of the same thing. And that is how important love and communion with another is, you know.

And so, I mean, that … this is essentially a love story and a story of hope. Well that’s the way it reads for me.

Question: Did you do much research before the shoot began?

Alex: Yeah, we ….. David and I came up ….. for the best part of a week before ….. one of the weeks before we started filming. And we sort of just …… We hired a boat which didn’t go very fast, cause they wouldn’t give us a fast one.

And hours later we found this little beach, like up the river somewhere. And we rolled our swags out and you know, went  fishing and just did the whole thing, you know. Had fresh fish. And just sort of …. It was great, you know.

And talked about the script and just prepared the way we do. And, I don’t know, straight away, it’s so peaceful up here, you know. I mean the air is clean, the air smells different to anywhere else.

It’s a, it’s a river that sort of starts fresh a few hundred kilometers up, inland and sort of ends up in the ocean and the wild life and the trees, I mean. It’s a … it’s like a little sub climate.

So, it’s interesting the effect that it has on you….

 Link to interview

I came up here camping with David Field, before we started shooting. And ah ……one night we where sort of lying down looking at the stars, I said, “Mate, I relate to this character so much, I am worried about playing myself.”

– Alex O’Loughlin, Oyster Farmer set interview, 2003

Link to interview with various people on set of Oyster Farmer done by Andrew Urban.

 

Alex O’Lachlan terrified of fame – June 2005

Alex O’Lachlan is touted as one of Australia’s most talented up-and-coming actors but says he’s “absolutely terrified” by the thought of fame. The 28-year-old recently moved to Los Angeles to pursue a film career and is in Australia this week to promote his latest feature film, Oyster Farmer. O’Lachlan has the lead role in the Australian film, playing the character of Jack Flange.

 Australia Associated Press (General News)

SYDNEY

16 June 2005,

(I found this article on Alex O’Loughin Fan.com  

It seems the original article no longer exists)

“Losing my anonymity in this world I think is something that I find terrifying,” O’Lachlan said in Sydney today. “I am a very private person. I have my life and I have my family, which mean the world to me.” But unfortunately for O’Lachlan, fame is something he must consider as part of the business. “Fame, for all intense and purposes, is not something that I aspire to,” he said. “I certainly aspire to art. That is why I am involved in this craft. I love doing what I’m doing and I’m so grateful to be working.”

Oyster Farmer marks the directorial debut of Anna Reeves. It stars feature film newcomer Diana Glenn alongside veterans Jack Thompson, David Field and Kerry Armstrong. In it, Flange moves from Sydney to work in a small oyster-farming community on the Hawkesbury River. The story follows Flange’s story of trying to fit into the community where he develops a relationship with Pearl (Glenn) and a strong friendship with the local oyster farmers.

“The film moves at the pace of life on the Hawkesbury River,” O’Lachlan, who has seen the film four times, said. “It is an honest to life, romantic comedy. It is a fantastic actors piece.” One of the most difficult aspects of making the film was a love scene between Jack and Pearl, O’Lachlan said. “There is nothing intimate about a sex scene at all,” O’Lachlan said. “You have got 30 people standing around and there is a camera between your legs and there are lights and make-up girls looking at your bum to make sure you haven’t got too much shine. If I never did another one, that would be just fine.”

O’Lachlan will take time out to spend with his family in Australia before heading back to Hollywood later this month. He is represented by International Creative Management (ICM) in the US and has been auditioning for a series of major roles, along with supporting parts. His rugged good looks mean that he is being compared to the likes of Mel Gibson, Russell Crowe and Heath Ledger. “I am getting sent for the leading men’s roles but I am just doing my best because there are so many leading men out there,” he said.

Oyster Farmer, which screened as part of the Sydney International Film Festival this week, opens nationally on June 30, 2005.

My Thoughts

• Once again a reminder to those readers that might not know, Alex used the surname O’Lachlan at  the time of Oyster Farmer.