Aug 24, 1976

Australia

Australian Actor Alex O’Loughlin, is best known Down Under for his lead roles in romantic dramas such as “Oyster Farmer” or even disturbing genre films such as “Feed,” made a splash in the U.S. and as the new cast member on the sixth season of the Emmy-winning police drama, “The Shield” (FX, 2002- ). He was a candidate for the role of James Bond which eventually went to Daniel Craig.<br/><br/>

Born in Sydney, he first gained popularity with his role of Jack Flange in the acclaimed 2004 Australi... ... (read more...) an film, “Oyster Farmer.”. He played a man who takes on a new job as an oyster farmer to pay his sister’s medical bills, only to discover that it is not enough and that he must hold up an armored car.<br/><br/>

He followed his “Oyster Farmer” role with a part in the Australian made-for-television crime movie, “Blackjack: Sweet Science,” followed by the horror film, “Man-Thing” (2005). Based on the lower-rung Marvel comic book character, he played Deputy Fraser in the film which, not surprisingly, was broadcast on the Sci-Fi Network before its release on DVD.<br/><br/>

Then there was the Australian low-budget thriller “Feed” (2005), in which he starred and produced. Teaming again with “Man-Thing” director Brett Leonard, O’Loughlin was credited with originating the idea for the story, centering on an investigator in pursuit of a cyber-criminal suspected of killing women by force-feeding them to death.<br/><br/>

He also appeared in the Australian television movies, “White Collar Blue” (2002) and “Love Bytes” (2004). He then starred in the Showtime miniseries, “The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant” (2005), another homeland hit, in which he played Will Bryant, the husband of the title character – a woman who was among the first of the British convicts sentenced to an experimental penal colony in Australia in the late 1700s. For his performance, Alex O’Loughlin won an Australia Film Institute Award for Best Actor. Proving himself on camera, Alex O’Loughlin was also active in theater, acting in stage productions of “Jarrabin,” “Country Music,” “Saved,” “The Fruits of Enlightenment,” “Bodyline – in Transit,” “Faust is Dead” and “Face to Face.”<br/><br/>

His big-screen U.S. debut was as one half of a kissing couple in the Christmas romantic comedy, “The Holiday.”<br/><br/>

Alex O’Loughlin returned to the big screen with the 2007 teen thriller, “Invisible,” playing a recently paroled thug dating a troubled girl (Margarita Levieva) who attacks a high school kid (Justin Chatwin) and leaves his body to die in the woods, forcing his detached spirit to find help before it’s too late. He also appeared in “August Rush” (2007) a dramatic fairy tale starring Keri Russell and child star, Freddie Highmore. Now on television, Alex O’Loughlin stars in “Moonlight” (CBS, 2007- ), playing a tortured private detective who happens to be a vampire wrestling with his immortality while trying to reconcile with his love for a mortal woman (Sophia Myles).<br/><br/>