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Artikel vom 21. April 2010

Alex O’Loughlin’s ‘Back-up Plan

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Australian actor Alex O’Loughlin is about to land in North America this weekend when his new film, The Back-Up Plan, opens in theatres. In the romantic comedy, which he stars in alongside Jennifer Lopez, O’Loughlin plays Stan, a young bachelor who falls for Lopez’s character after she finds out she’s pregnant. Although he’s appeared in many films and television shows, the part of Stan is his biggest role to date, and he admits he got the part over a cup of coffee in the Pittsburgh airport.

“My agent called me and said [director] Alan Poul wanted to come and meet me, have a cup of coffee and chat. We sat for a couple of hours and chatted about a bunch of stuff, and of course one of things was the movie and the fact that Jennifer was now attached and I was being considered among a couple of other people [for the part]. I was very candid with any concerns I had and that night I got a call and was told the role had been offered to me,” he says.

Before finalizing the offer, O’Loughlin had to meet with Lopez, and her husband Marc Anthony, at their home on Long Island.

“You meet people and you know if you’re interested in them or not. The things you need to determine are: What’s the film that we’re making? What does it require? Do we have an understanding with one another? Do we enjoy each other’s company? Are you bored with talking to the person after two minutes? The other thing that was important is that we spoke specifically about the story and the characters and both of our artistic visions for the film and how our characters fit together,” he explains about meeting Lopez.

The character of Stan is a less grounded version of himself, O’Loughlin states, and is comparable to how he lived 10 years ago.

“He’s got that young anxiety…that something is missing from his life. In that way I related to him,” he says.

O’Loughlin has done a range of genres, and has even played a vampire in the show Moonlight. His next part after The Back-up Plan is in the re-imagining of the 1960s television show Hawaii Five-O.

“I play Steve McGarrett, which was the Jack Lord character in the original. In our version he’s a Navy Seal and comes back to [Hawaii] after an incident involving his family. He’s offered something he can’t refuse and ends up running a task force on the island. There is a lot of parallels to the original show but there are a few contemporary twists. It’s going to look very different and feel very different from the original,” he says.

Whether he prefers to do film over television is debatable, as they’re very different mediums to work in.

“Film is much more conducive to artistic collaboration. Television is a different beast. You do four times the amount of work, your days are much, much longer, and there’s not the luxury of time or money that you have in film. The other difference between doing a film and a television series is that with a film you have a beginning, middle, and an end. In TV it just keeps going,” he notes.

When asked what he would be doing if he wasn’t acting, O’Loughlin says that’s the “most distressing part of my life” because he never trained to be anything else. As for what he hopes the audience gets out of The Back-up Plan, he says he just wants people to “enjoy themselves and be entertained”.

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Artikel vom 21. April 2010

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Alex O'Loughlin up against J. Lo in romantic comedy

Alex O’Loughlin has become a regular presence on TV screens with work on The Shield, Moonlight and Three Rivers — and he just finished filming the pilot for a remake of Hawaii 5-0.

But the hardworking Australian actor is no stranger to movie screens either. In his latest, the romantic comedy The Back-Up Plan, he goes toe-to-toe with none other than Jennifer Lopez.

O’Loughlin sat down with Metro to talk about working with J.Lo, film versus television and his undying love for vampires.

What was it like going up against J.Lo?
It was fantastic. It’s funny when you word it like that, going up against her. It’s like, yeah I guess I sort of was in a way. But it never felt like that. She’s a pro, she’s completely approachable. I mean, we met and became buds before we did the thing, so by the time it was first day on set, cameras rolling, we were like old mates, which is great. I think it’s really important. If you go back and watch romantic comedies where people haven’t been friends, it doesn’t really work.

How exactly did you bond before filming?
I flew up and met her and Mark and the kids at their house in Long Island and just hung out. You know, you meet people in life and you either have chemistry or you don’t. I think as an Aussie and just who I am as a person, humour is a really important part of my life. My mates and I are always giving each other a hard time and breaking balls. When I get to know someone, if I’m interested in them as a person, I sort of do a bit of that. I just test the waters a bit. And she’s a Bronx girl from the block, and she was like, “Oh, really?” So there was a bit of that, which was nice.

Do you have a preference between playing heroes and villains?
I really like playing villains. It feels to me like — and this isn’t to say that I’ve ever done anything clever or talented in my career yet — but I feel like when I’m playing a villain, I can get away with a lot more. You go like, “Hey, listen, what if this guy had a tattoo on his face?” And the director’s like, “Yeah! That’s f—ing evil!” But as the hero, you’re like, “Hey, can we…?” “No! You’re the hero. Just look and smile.” And that’s a ridiculous sort of stereotypical response, but I just feel freer when I’m a villain.

How about a preference between working in film and television?
Well, film. I don’t know who would prefer television over film. The only good thing about TV is it’s a steady paycheque. That’s not true, it’s not the only good thing about TV. But look at me, dude. I just finished a pilot. I’m beat. You do 15, 16-hour days every day. You’ve got to churn the work out. I think film is the most comfortable medium because of the time and the money that’s usually there.

And can you talk about, the pilot, Hawaii 5-0?
No, I mean, I’ll just say that it’s a big pilot, and I think it’s going to be very good. You should definitely watch out for it.

Are you tired of getting questions about vampires?
No, I love vampires. I did the show Moonlight because I love the genre and because I really believed in the show, and I will always love the genre. I think it’s the coolest. I would totally play a vampire again — if it was the right thing. I’ll never be sick of vampires.

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