Childhood & Early Life
Alex O'Loughlin was born as Alexander O'Lachlan on August 24, 1976, in Canberra, Australia. Of Irish and Scottish descent, his father is a physics and astronomy teacher in Sydney and his mother a nurse. Alex has a younger sister, Jennifer.
Since his parents divorced when Alex was just two years old and lived in separate cities; his childhood was spent shuttling between Sydney, where his father worked and Canberra with his mother. As a small child, he suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder.
He was interested in acting from an early age. In 1999, he joined the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), Australia’s leading institute for education and training in the performing arts from where notables like Mel Gibson and Cate Blanchett have graduated.
He graduated from NIDA in 2002 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Dramatic Art
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Career
Even as a teenager, Alex O'Loughlin started working in numerous short films as well as in fringe theater. Among his very first acting roles as an extra was that of a Marine.
He commenced his acting career in real earnest after he graduated from NIDA. He acting in various Australian film and television productions. His television credits include ‘Sweet Science’, ‘BlackJack’, ‘White Collar Blue’, and ‘Love Bytes’.
Alex got his first break in films when he was given the lead role in the 2004 Australian romantic comedy film ‘Oyster Farmer’ opposite Diana Glenn, an established Australian television actor. Alex played the role of a criminal who steals money from a bank van to pay for the treatment of his ill sister and becomes an oyster farmer to avoid getting caught. The film, directed by Anna Reeves, was much talked about due to rumors that Alex was in the contention for being chosen as the next James Bond.
His next film, ‘Man-Thing’, an Australian-American horror film featuring the ‘Marvel Comics’ swamp creature of the same name was released in 2005. Even though the comic series was very successful, the film, released in a few international markets and shown on the ‘Sci-Fi’ channel, bombed. It made just $1 million and received bad reviews.
In 2005, he also acted in another film, ‘Feed’, an Australian crime-horror film that explored themes of submission, dominance, love, and power against a background of a police investigation of feederism, a sexual fetish. Alex also co-produced and wrote the script of the film.
2005 continued to be a busy year for Alex as he was picked for a TV miniseries, ‘The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant’. It was received very well by both the critics and the audience and won or nominated for numerous awards. Alex was lauded for his role and nominated for Australian Film Institute Awards’ ‘Best Lead Actor in Television’ in 2005 and the Logie Awards’ Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series, the next year.
It was also in 2005 that Alex screen-tested for the role of ‘James Bond’ at Pinewood Studios after being invited to London by director Martin Campbell. The role for the upcoming ‘Casino Royale’, however, went to Daniel Craig.
In 2006, Alex appeared in a brief kissing scene in ‘The Holiday’, an American romantic comedy starring Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet. The film was a commercial success.
The year 2007 was very busy for Alex; he appeared in ‘The Invisible’, a Swedish-American teen supernatural thriller, as well as ‘August Rush’, a drama film based on the escapades of an 11-year old runaway musical prodigy. Alex also appeared as ‘Detective Kevin Hiatt’ in seven episodes of ‘The Shield’, an American crime drama television series on corrupt police officers produced by ‘Fox Television Studios’ and ‘Sony Pictures Television’.
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After he was offered the lead role in ‘Moonlight’, a ‘CBS’ paranormal romance television drama, Alex quit acting in ‘The Shield’. The show was received well, however, its run was interrupted by the Hollywood writers’ strike, and ‘CBS’ did not commission a second season despite campaigning by loyal fans.
In 2009, played role of ‘Russell Haden’, a biologist in ‘Whiteout’, a thriller film set in Antarctica based on the comic book of the same name. The $35 million ‘Columbia Pictures’ film distributed by ‘Warner Bros.’ unfortunately bombed at the box office. In the same year, he appeared as a serial killer suffering from OCD in one episode in Season Four of ‘Criminal Minds’, a very successful ‘CBS’ American police procedural crime drama television series that premiered in 2005 and is still being broadcast after 13 seasons.
Alex played the lead character ‘Dr. Andrew "Andy" Yablonski’, a famous transplant surgeon in ‘Three Rivers’, an American television medical drama on ‘CBS’ from October 2009 to July 2010.
In 2010, he appeared opposite Jennifer Lopez in the American romantic comedy film, ‘The Back-Up Plan’.
CBS cast him in the lead role of ‘Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett’, a former Navy Seal in ‘Hawaii Five-0’, an American action police procedural television series, which has turned out to be Alex O'Loughlin’s biggest hit till date. The immensely successful TV series premiered in 2010 and entered its 9th season in 2018.
Personal Life & Legacy
In 1997, Alex O’Loughlin fathered a son, Saxon, with his girlfriend. Later on he broke up with her. His next relationship was with Holly Valance, an Australian singer and actress, however, the couple’s relationship did not progress despite many years together and they separated in February 2009.
Alex got romantically involved with Malia Jones, an American model and surfer, who gave birth to his son, Lion, in 2012. Malia and Alex got married in Hawaii on April 18, 2014.
In 2012, Alex missed several episodes of ‘Hawaii Five-0’ as he was in rehab for treatment for dependency on of pain medication that he had been prescribed earlier for a shoulder injury.
Alex is a ‘Donate Life America’ ambassador; the alliance of non-profit organizations works to support and encourage organ donation.
Trivia
As a kid, Alex was a fan of ‘Iron Maiden’, the popular heavy-metal band.
He did a lot of own stunts in ‘Moonlight’ and even took training in Kung Fu and Tai chi for the role.
He is a resident of West Hollywood, California, however, he is more in Hawaii shooting for ‘Hawaii Five-0’.
Following the success of ‘Hawaii Five-0’, Alex was ranked him #2 on the list of ‘TV's 100 Sexiest Men of 2010’, and #9 in 2011 by a Seattle-based entertainment website, ‘BuddyTV’.
Alex claims to be a big fan of vampires.
