Growing up in Australia, Alex O'Loughlin developed a strong fondness for the uncanny.  After learning about the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice during his teens, he immediately developed an obsession with the eerie genre and even hoped to portray a vampire someday. Now, he is living his dream as private investigator and vampire Mick St. John on the CBS series Moonlight.

While O'Loughlin enjoys other books and films that depict vampire stories, including Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Lost Boys and The Hunger, he says that he is most fascinated with the novels of Anne Rice, which also serves as his inspiration in playing his character on the supernatural drama pilot.

“I think that Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles are my favorite stories…I learned so much about the mythology of vampires through her storytelling, some of which she took dramatic license with, but a lot is authentic…The characters in there are just incredible,” he told MediaBlvd Magazine.

Among the characters on the Vampire Chronicles, O'Loughlin associates his Moonlight character with Lestat, who was also portrayed by Tom Cruise in the 1994 film adaptation Interview with the Vampire.

“There's a lot of Lestat in Mick St. John.  He's an inspirational character to young men who find it difficult to come out of their shells.  He's just obnoxious enough, just cheeky enough and he misbehaves just enough.  He's a really interesting, full character.  I think his mischievousness and his sense of joy have been things that I've tried to take into this character, not to copy it, in any way, but just as an ode.  One of the similarities between Mick St. John and the character of Lestat is the thorough comprehension of irony,” he explained.

His interest in vampires has also made it easier for him to make the creepy transition from private investigator to the creature of the night.  In fact, he enjoys wearing the contact lenses and putting on the fangs, not to mention biting women on the neck.

“I like it very much.  And, my girlfriend really enjoys it too, until she doesn't, and then she slaps me, and that's the end of that.  Her name is Holly Valance.  She's an Australian actress and singer, and she lives in L.A., too,” he said.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: MediaBlvd Magazine
(Image courtesy of CBS)