Baby, I Love Your Way – May 2010

 

Sydney Morning Herald Interview

with Alex O’Loughlin and Jennifer Lopez

Aussie actor Alex O’Loughlin helps Jennifer Lopez face her biological clock in The Back-up Plan.

By Jenny Cooney

14 May 2010

Australian actor Alex O’Loughlin looks curious as he sits beside Jennifer Lopez on the Culver City soundstage where they are shooting romantic comedy The Back-up Plan. Lopez has been asked why she chose the 33-year-old to play her love interest. “You mean, besides the obvious?” Lopez, 40, says with a giggle as she playfully squeezes his arm in acknowledgement that it’s no coincidence he’s shirtless more than once in the film.

“But honestly,” Lopez adds before the chagrined O’Loughlin can react, “my character is independent and ready to have a baby without a man, so she needed someone who could really challenge her and when we had our first meeting, Alex and I also had this playful push-and-pull banter and I thought, ‘Oh, this guy is not going to back down to me,’ so that was a good sign.”

The pair certainly have a playful energy and genuine respect for each other as they talk about the high-concept comedy that marks not only O’Loughlin’s first leading role in a Hollywood film but also Lopez’s return to work after the birth of her twins, Max and Emme, now two.

In The Back-up Plan, Lopez’s character, Zoe, is artificially inseminated and on the way home she meets Stan (O’Loughlin). As the pair fall in love, Zoe drops the bombshell and they attempt a courtship in reverse.

“What makes this film modern and cutting-edge is that this is a situation that is happening to a lot more women today, who get to a certain age and face the choice of doing it on their own or not having a child at all,” Lopez says, wearing a simple pink sundress and thongs before heading into wardrobe and make-up for today’s shoot “But why I really liked this film was it’s also a throwback to the old style of romantic comedy, with really great physical comedy.”

O’Loughlin graduated from NIDA in 2002 and was active in Sydney theatre productions until he starred in the 2004 Aussie film Oyster Farmer and headed to Los Angeles. “But my faith rapidly diminished after a year of unemployment, “O’Loughlin humbly reveals, shattering the “overnight star” myth. “I couldn’t get arrested in this town and just when I felt I’d run out of resources, I got a small movie [teen thriller The Invisible] and then The Shield.”

O’Loughlin’s edgy role on the Emmy-winning police drama led to his own series in 2007, vampire drama Moonlight, and when that was cancelled after two seasons, he starred in last year’s short-lived medical series Three Rivers.

Now he’s waiting for reaction not only to his movie role but also a pilot he filmed recently for a television remake of Hawaii Five-0, in which he’ll play Detective Steve “Book ‘em Danno” McGarrett.

“The Back-up Plan is my first lead in a movie in this country at this level and I guess it’s the first time in my career I went, ‘Wow, I’m here and I’m really doing it,’ so the decision to sign a seven-year contract for a TV show was very difficult,” O’Loughlin says, “but I really liked this take on the original show and this character … so I have no regrets.”

Lopez, who broke out as a star in the 1997 biopic Selena and has starred in Out of Sight, The Wedding Planner and Monster-in-Law, continues to expand her empire with another album and a possible tour, as well as a revamp of her clothing line. But she says her twins go wherever she goes. “I love my babies and it’s hard to be away from them but what I do as an artist is such a big part of who I am and the best mum that I could be is to be a fulfilled mum,” Lopez says.

Almost on cue, the nanny in her dressing-room trailer beckons and Lopez bids us farewell.

O’Loughlin says the toddlers gave the project a family atmosphere, even if it did come with a downside. “It’s usually an adult playground when you’re making a film, so I love the days when we know they’re on the set – usually when you hear the director say, ‘Cut! We have to go again, Max is crying in the background.’”

My Thoughts

• Remember, this is an Australian article and in Oz, thongs mean flip-flops (and not a G-string) 🙂
• Of course Moonlight only lasted 1 season and not 2 as stated above.

Scan:

 

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Stan, Sweet Stan…NO sugar needed!!

Just some eye candy to take us into the weekend!

All the pictures originally from AOLR……

And remember to visit our Facebook page and look through all our lovely photo albums! 🙂

#AlexOLoughlin – Lost in Translation

Paula found a quote of Alex from one of the interviews he did with an Italian magazine. We found it refreshing and new. It made us realise that there must be lots of jewels hidden in all the non-English printed media.

We found the original article done by Fransesca Scorcucchi for Vanity Fair Italia, 26 May 2010, on ‘The Alex O’Loughlin Italia’ site. Paula asked her friend Manu to translate it for us in English – A BIG Thank You to her for helping us with it!:

Pictures used in the article from The Back-Up promotional pictures and Carlotte Moye photoshoot in 2010

Alex O’Loughlin & JLo

Where did she find such a builder?

As a child he saw a musical and decided to become an actor, then he forgot about the promise and started working in constructions, in the mean time he had become a dad. He talks about everything, but not about Jennifer’s butt….

“God please don’t let me faint” A lot of new-dads say this prayer in the delivery room. Easier for it to happen if the new dad is 20 years old, like Alex O’Loughlin was when his son Saxon was born. The confession comes out when we are talking about another delivery, the main scene in the movie “The Back-Up Plan”, currently in the cinemas.

A romantic comedy about a serious subject, in vitro fertilization. It’s the story of Zoe, obsessed with time running out, not having found the right man to get married and have children with, she decides to change the order of events, she’ll have a baby first and then maybe she’ll meet the right man. And the right man, Stan, arrives the very day of her appointment for IVF, he is confronted of a big dilemma, he is in love but should he accept the full package, Zoe plus the twins?

Starring as Zoe, Jennifer Lopez, who comes back to make movies after an absence of 4 years and after having her own twins.

Starring as Stan, Alex, a good looking boy with dark hair and blue eyes, single (last quoted girlfriend model/actress/singer Holly Valance), with his strong accent from his Australia, where Saxon lives with his mum, whom Alex never married, and muscles that, if you’ve seen the movie, you won’t be able to ignore.

“I have trained a lot for this role”, says Alex, “my only duty was to be beautiful”.

Mission accomplished, in one of the scenes, Jennifer Lopez, distracted by his pectorals, trashes her car against a tree.

What would you do in Stan’s shoes?

Alex: If I was in love with a woman and found out she’s having twins who are not mine, would I stand by her? It would be easier if the children were from a random sperm donor. Not from a man, flesh and blood, whom one day might ask for the “parcel” back”

And if the man was there? Would you fight to keep him away?

Alex: I would throw him of a bridge. Just kidding, I don’t think there is much to fight about in the feelings department. The woman I will give my heart and my fidelity to, she has to love me as much as I love her. If she doesn’t love me as much as I love her, I don’t want her.

I don’t accept to be, in a couple, the one that loves the most. But if her feelings are as strong as mine, there can’t be any third wheel that matters, because she has chosen, and she has chosen me.

Having said this, I would still throw that man of the bridge.

You have a very romantic concept of love, and yet you are single….

Alex: We are always more romantic when we are single…

What’s the most romantic gesture you’ve done in your life?

Alex: I can’t tell you, I don’t want to offend my ex’s to whom I haven’t done it.

You’re smart more than romantic…

Alex: The truth is that I don’t believe in big romantic gestures. Being romantic to me is being spontaneous, you can’t plan like “I’m going to buy a ton of rose petals and spread them around the house…”

You are Italian, I don’t need to explain to you what a romantic gesture is.

Explain it to me.

Alex: Ok, it’s just to grab a rose from a bush, even if you end up with your hand full of thorns, because in that moment you feel like showing her how much you love her. Being romantic means being a bit stupid really…

What does your son say?

Alex: He says “Dad find yourself a girlfriend”. He wants to see me happy.

Do you think it’s more difficult to find a girlfriend for someone who already has a son?

Alex: Absolutely not. But having a child is something that puts everything else in perspective, even the need of having a woman at your side.

How did you become an actor?

Alex: As a kid I used to go to theatre with my mom. Once I saw “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, a musical by Lloyd Webber. I couldn’t tell you much about the story but I remember thinking, as if it was yesterday, this is what I want to do when I grow up.

I started with plays at school, and the most beautiful thing was to “feel” the public, even if I couldn’t see it because of the lights on the stage. Then I forgot all about it, and for some time I did 1000 other jobs.

In which field for example?

Alex: Construction for example, but nothing very fancy. Mine wasn’t an important role.

Were you like an architect?

Alex: No, more like a builder.

Is it better to have a big role in a rubbish movie or a small part in a masterpiece?

Alex: The first. I’m interested in my character, that’s what I can work on, everything else is out of my control.

I prefer to shine in a mediocre movie than to be un-noticed in a masterpiece.

The most difficult scene in The Back-Up Plan?

Alex: The labour in the water. Jennifer and I had a laughing fit, we couldn’t stop anymore. We had to stop filming, go for a coffee and come back much later.

There is a scene in which Jennifer shows her famous butt, you have seen it close, can you tell us how it was?

Alex: Have mercy on me, do you really want me to talk about Jennifer Lopez’s ass? I’ll just say that Jenniferis still a very nice piece of …. young woman.”

Magazine Scan:

There must be a lot of other beautiful articles about Alex O’Loughlin from other countries and from different languages.

We would love the see more of them and we want to ask all the non-English speaking fans to help us to find (and maybe translate) more of them.

The International journalists have a refreshing look at him sometimes.

Thank you in advance for any help on this project!! 🙂

That longing to touch. Vote for the most emotional moment POLL!

That absolute yearning between two people. The longing to be closer, to share more and to become part of each other!! That need to be ONE…. Is there anything more exhilarating in life than that?

All these scenes are beautiful examples of that desire for more and are portrayed with wonderful emotion by Alex. Which one brings out that aching feeling of another’s touch the most for you?

(1) Mick & Beth : That moment of surrender.

(2) Stan & Zoe: Did luck bring them together?

(3) Jack & Pearl: Weeks of desire, turned into action…

(4) Andy & Lisa: An undeniable connection?

(5) Mick & Coraline: The raw power of attraction!

Vote for the best of the best – Find Your Favorite #AlexOLoughlin Screen Kiss!

It´s time to cast your vote on our latest poll.

Here is some of  Alex’s on-screen kisses to choose from (sadly no real life material available).

Please vote for the moment of passion, your fantasy world loves best (well we know it´s hard to choose just one, when you probably took part in every single one of them).

1) Will and Mary Bryant:

Mary Bryant

By the time they shared this kiss, they had been locked up with lots of other inmates, in a ship´s hull for months. He had seen her giving birth and they had just married. No wonder there is such passion behind it!

2) Steve McGarrett and Catherine Rollins:

Hawaii Five-0

These two really look hungry……for each other that is.

3) Mick St John and Beth Turner

Moonlight

Just get a room and get it over with…pleeeeeeeeeeeeease!

4) Mick and  Coraline St John

Moonlight

The passion that blinded, consumed and haunted him……and drove her mad!

5) Jack and Pearl:

Oyster Farmer

At last we found the perfect spot……. 😀

6) Dr Andy Yablonski and Dr Lisa Reed:

Three Rivers

In your arms I will find comfort…..you are kissing all the pain away!

7) Stan and Zoe:

The Back-Up Plan

I know I will be your best kiss ever…..I just know it!