What was the magical moment that made me realize Alex O’Loughlin would be my next passion? Was there even such a moment or did he simply grow on me over time?

Let’s go back a few years.

In the summer of 2008, I was channel-surfing on German TV. Something I rarely do, since I don’t watch TV-shows in the dubbed version.  But I am so glad I did on that day. There was a crime show on about a private detective in Los Angeles. I had no idea that it was the show I deemed not worth checking out when the season started in the US. I thought it was some ‘vampire-show’, and I am not into vampires at all. That was the reason I didn’t give it a try back then. Boy, what a wrong decision that was.

Long story short, there was this guy on TV, and I was like… “Who IS that?”

I guess I don’t have to say that it only took me a short while to watch every single episode, and yes, more than once. I fell instantly in love with it. And it was so sad to learn that it was canceled and there wouldn’t be a second season in the fall.

Moonlight is still one of my favorite shows. I always loved private investigators. If it was ‘Banyon’, ‘Mannix’, ‘Rockford’ or ‘Magnum’. (Wow, just realized who long ago they were on TV.) Private eyes were always my favorite. And this new one was surely different and special.

That Mick St. John was a vampire was secondary, in my opinion. First of all, he was a detective, and a pretty darn good one. His cases were always interesting and mostly personal in some way. I really liked that.

But what I loved most was Mick’s struggle with what he was. I loved his brooding, and his unhappiness. His inner fight to keep his humanity. His constant struggle with what life dealt  him. Like Joseph said his inner vampire would come out at some point. I think Mick was afraid that he would lose control over that side of himself. He never realized that he was the most human person of anyone we ever encountered in the series.

I loved Mick and Joseph. And I can easily understand that there was a huge slash/shipping going on. Their encounters always were a bit homo-erotic. There always was kind of an undercurrent there. I loved it how the show played with that.

And I loved Mick and Beth together. It was kind of strange that he knew her almost all her life, and even checked up on her once in a while. But I never felt like this relationship was weird or freaky. Yes, Mick is 85 years old, but only on paper. He is not an old creepy guy getting a young woman. In body and mind, he is just 30, with the experience of eight decades. That is how I see it. Don’t you think it would be creepier if he fell in love with an eighty-year-old  woman, than with Beth? Well, I do.

My favorite part of Moonlight was the narrative. I could listen to Mick for hours on end. Some of his voice overs are so heart wrenching, spoken with such emotion. I’m melting every time I listen to it.

There is one scene in Moonlight that still moves me to this day. It’s a scene I absolutely love. It gives me goose bumps whenever I watch it. The re-turning. For his Beth. Oh man, that scene gets me every time.

And here you go, one of my favorite music videos. She did a great job.

I was of course sad that the show ended, but at least it had kind of a satisfying ending. It could have been a lot worse than that final scene.

After I was hooked, not only on Moonlight but even more so on Alex O’Loughlin, my intense research begun. 😉 Sadly I had to discover that there was not that much to watch.

The first thing I could get my hands on was ‘Mary Bryant’.

Mary Bryant is an incredible film with an incredible cast. Even if Alex wouldn’t be in it, it would be worth watching for sure. If you haven’t already watched it, I encourage you to do so. It is a movie full of sadness, incredible hardship, tragedy and despair, but also full of love and hope. I promise it will be three hours very well spent. Get your tissues out and watch that movie.

Please go over to ‘Intense Study’ and take a look at the great post Paula did for this movie.

http://alexoloughlinintensestudy.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/willy/

Watch this intro and enjoy Alex’s voiceover.

Next on my list to watch was ‘The Shield’. A TV show I never watched because I didn’t like the format of it, plus I never liked Michael Chiklis much. But of course, I had to at least watch the episodes Alex was in. So, I watched season 6 of ‘The Shield’. Let’s just say that was not my show, but I was impressed by Alex’s work on it. But still a show I don’t need to watch twice.

I think now it is time to mention the tattoos. Yeah, well, they are pretty obvious, so let’s talk about them for a minute.

For a better understanding, I need to tell you a little about how I approach being a ‘fan’. Even though I don’t like the word ‘fan’ much. I don’t like the association to anything fanatic. To be fanatic about something is definitely not good, and one should take a really good look at oneself if he or she was ‘in too deep’ into anything. To be a fan of something for me simply means to enjoy it immensely.

Anyway, I can get obsessive about a character, but not about a real person. I think there is a huge difference. I was never very interested in an actor’s personal life. Sure, I like to know the basics, like where from, birth year, something like that. But I never went on the hunt for pictures that showed ‘my’ star during his private time. There is nothing I respect more than privacy. If someone is willing to share something, then fine, I will take a look. And I think it is their job to be photographed at official events, or while working. But no one has the right to take pictures of them while they are out to dinner, shopping, jogging, or whatever. Leave them the hell alone.

That said, I haven’t seen any ‘private’ pictures of Alex before I watched The Shield. I was like WTF is that? 😉 It was then that I took a closer look. Yes, a little ‘hunt’ was on. 😉 Okay, I confess, before Alex, I was not into tattoos. And I’m still not. But his tattoos on his biceps are really cool. And I couldn’t even imagine him without those.

But seriously, why would anyone who wants to be in the public eye through his work, tattoo his forearms? Why did he do that? That is something I will never understand. And thankfully, they are almost completely gone by now. Don’t get me wrong, anyone can get as many tattoos as he/she likes, but being an actor means that your body is your capital. So, get anything tattooed that no one sees right away, but please not your face, forearms, or hands. Just saying and wondering.

By now, I really like a good tattoo on a great body. (I still would never ever get one myself, but my view of others has changed.) If I see a ‘naked’ (meaning no tattoo) body, I even think there is something missing.

That said you can imagine that I was a little shocked about the ink on our Alex. But I got over it. Well, obviously.

After I made my way through The Shield, with watching the last episode just recently, I went on to Oyster Farmer.

I didn’t do these screen caps myself, but I can’t remember where I found them. I know it was not from any of the usual suspects. 😉

I love this film. It has great atmosphere, beautiful scenery, and a heartwarming story. It’s a wonderful little film with great and interesting characters. Some of it could have been more developed, and the editing might not be the best. But it’s a film well worth watching.

Here is the trailer for it.

The next film I found was ‘Man-Thing’. “Agents of an oil tycoon vanish while exploring a swamp marked for drilling. The local sheriff investigates and faces a Seminole legend come to life: Man-Thing, a shambling swamp-monster whose touch burns those who feel fear.”

Well, seeing the film with today’s standards it is most likely more amusing than scary or frightening. It is a low budged movie, but none the less enjoyable.

And again thank you Paula for such a great post about Man-Thing over at Intense Study. You really should head over there and take a look. And while you‘re there roam around the great site.

http://alexoloughlinintensestudy.wordpress.com/2013/01/26/man-thing/

And here you can watch the trailer for it:

I don’t watch Criminal Minds. Well, I did in the beginning, but at some point I lost interest, even though it is still a great show. But in April 2009, there was an episode I just had to watch. ‘The Big Wheel’. With one of the best guest performances by an actor I have ever seen. He should have been nominated for every damn award there is. But that is Alex for you, completely and utterly underrated.

That was one chilling and brilliant performance. Who else can make you feel for the serial killer, who brutally murdered dozen of women? But he made you feel like he was the victim just as much as the perpetrator.

A great episode, one that will be remembered for a long time.

Trailer for ‘The Big Wheel’:

Great BTS about Vincent:

And then finally it was October 2009, and Alex was back on TV. ‘Three Rivers’ premiered on CBS. I had high hopes for the show. I’ve been an organ donor since 2001, and was happy that this very important topic was the main premise of a TV show on a major network. And of course, I was so happy to see Alex on a weekly basis.

I think it was a really good show; focusing more on the human drama of the donor and the recipients and their families. Maybe that was the reason why it didn’t do as well as it could have. Maybe there should have been a little more ‘action‘. Sure they were flying around getting there barely in time, or we saw hectic scenes in the hospital. But I think they were too slow to develop the main characters, or better the main character. He was getting interesting when they canceled it. When his uncle Mike came back into his life. Interesting enough Uncle Mike later was promoted to ‘Dad’. 😉

But seriously, I think Andy was a great and interesting character, but he was only very slowly emerging. And I think that was a mistake. And he never had any ‘action’. You simply can’t have a leading character spending 99 % of the time in the hospital, sitting at someone’s bed, or is hidden by technical equipment and face masks. That is not how it works.

But still, I loved it. They had very good cases; just thinking about the one with Mandy Patinkin makes me cry. And what I absolutely LOVED was that you could never be sure who would die and who would make it. Just like in real life.

I think ‘Three Rivers’ was a highly underrated TV show with lots of potential. But it unfortunately came at the wrong time. We will never know why it was really canceled, but it might be a consolation that it worked out to perfection in the end. But we’re not there yet. 😉

Three Rivers Trailer:

After Three Rivers, there was no doubt that I would watch any new show or film Alex would appear in. I mean it was pretty clear after Moonlight, but this show cemented it.

During the wait for the last four episodes to air in June, I got my hands on anything that had Alex in it. 🙂

First on my agenda was FEED.

Thanks to AOLR for three of the pictures. Unfortunately, her site is no longer online. A truly great loss.

If you like to hear Alex snorting with laughter, you have to watch this interview. But seriously, it’s a great interview about ‘Feed’.

Feed Trailer:

This for sure is a very controversial movie, but I think it’s really good. And I’m not even sure who the real criminal is here. Is the detective with his behavior any better than Michael is? Watch the movie and make your own decision.

One thing is for sure, Alex’s performance is top notch. I didn’t care much for the blond, and have no idea why they came up with that, but other than that he is great in it.

In May 2010, I went to the movies to see Alex. That was nice to see him on the big screen. 🙂

And I actually really liked The Back-up Plan. Except for the water birth, that was just too over the top for my taste. But the rest is just great. Some really great scenes in it. I loved him making pancakes in the middle of the night. One of my favorite scenes.

Again thanks to AOLR for some of the pictures.

Back-Up Plan Trailer:

These two pictures are actually for the make-up department over at Hawaii Five-0. They might like to take a closer look at these. There is no orange, yellow, or whatever in sight. Maybe you could ask the people who did this job how they did it? So that next time Steve takes his shirt off, he doesn’t look like he has some bad bruises, or was in the sun too long. Just a suggestion of course.

After BUP, I watched the rest of his work that was available. Even though he was surely good in all of it, none of the films really are that great. Maybe except for August Rush, which is a good film.

But neither Whiteout, The Invisible, nor the TV production BlackJack: Sweet Science are movies one absolutely has to watch. Just recently someone was nice enough to put White Collar Blue from 2003 up on YouTube. That seems to be Alex’s first role. Very cute two minutes.

Then finally September 20^th 2010 arrived, and this guy arrived.

Well, as they say, the rest is history…

Now, after you read through all this, wandered off to other sites, and hopefully back, watched scenes and trailers, it is time for a poll. Actually, two polls.

I like to compare two things, see if they differ much, or not.

First, I like to know your favorite character Alex played/plays. (You can give ONE answer)

Second, I like to know what was/is his best work so far. (You can give three answers)

I know the first one is really tough, but you can comment, and elaborate on your choice or how you came to that decision. Or what did it for you. Looking forward to hearing from you!