SFX magazine doing a Moonlight ep guide with Alex comments

[wpgrace]

Yay! Coco!! Nice pic... I like vampy sexy Mick...

And I would love if you would post Alex's comments... at your leisure of course... but how cool to read them!

And welcome home honey.

[coco]

Grace

Ok, lets start with NSTAV:

Spoiler:

"The rythym and tone changed pretty dramatically" says O'Loughlin. "You put new actors in and new stuff is going to happen. They also changed the ages of the characters. For instance, Josef changed from 65 years old to 25, which is a dramatic shift. Plotwise, there were a bunch of ideas in the unaired pilot that we stretched across a couple of episodes later on". "I think the final pilot episode felt compartmentalised" he adds, "because we had to set up our mythology and our rules for the show. The pilot couldn't be 44 minutes of exposition, so there had to a story in there as well, but we had to set up this new myth about the world of vampires and we needed to introduce the various primary characters. So we had a fair bit of work to cram into the first episode, but I think we did it successfully".

OOTP:

Spoiler:

"I really like number two", O'Loughlin enthuses. "The end of the episode made it one of my favourites because Beth finding out so early about Mmick was shocking to me. First, as an actor, I thought, 'Oh God, what are they doing? They're going to ruin our show'. But it actually works really well and sort of gets that discovery out of the way, which enables us to get down to brass tacks. "So the show isn't about, 'Ohmygod, is she going to find out?' It's about the relationship these two people have and the love that's gradually building between them".

More to follow.....

[coco]

Continuing the ML episode guide Alex comments from SFX Vampire Special:

Dr Feelgood:

Spoiler:

O'Loughlin says, "I really like the idea of the rogue vampire. There's a sort of sadness to it as well. The thing I love about this genre is that the metaphors are endless; it's analogous to so many things. You look at what these vampires are struggling with and it's exactly the same as the things we come across in our day-to-day lives. They're animals trying to stay alive int his modern world. And there's that ending where the other vampire says, 'I understand; I see my place,' then Mick says, 'It's too late' and has to kill him. It's just very sad. I also felt like this episode was a little removed from the rest; it has a real standalone quality to it that separates it from the rest of the pack."

Fever:

Spoiler:

"There was a lot of location stuff in that episode," O'Loughlin points out. "We all went to the desert and shot out there for a few days. No new show has enough money, let alone an hour drama that has special effects, special make-up, is stunt heavy, shoots at night and is based in genre. This show was really shooting against all odds. It can be difficult to make it look good. In this episode, there are a couple of things that I wish we could have changed. Nothing in the performances or storyline, just in effects and things like that. I really like the storyline and the acting. I thought the guest stars were fantastic and overall I felt like I was watching a feature film. It was also an important episode for Josh and Mick. They were starting to get to know each other a bit more and it was important to build that trust between them, despite the fact that feelings were starting to develop between Mick & Beth.
"What happens at the end of that episode," he adds, "is pretty radical. When I read it for the first time, I was, like, 'Oh, yeah!' That was something to write home about and I love the way it was shot. And the fact that Beth lets him feed on her - she reaches this amazing place of comprehension. She understands his needs so clearly and it's evident that there's a real connection between these two people"

[wpgrace]

COCO!!!! YOU ROCK! I LOVE YOU!

[coco]

Arrested Development:

Spoiler:

"This one's not my favourite," O'Loughlin says matter of factly. "I felt like I could have cared about the kid more. I'm not sure if as the lead or the voice of the show I should be this honest, but there was just something missing. I'm not entirely sure why. It was more of a 'vampire-of-the-week' episode to me. People ask about this show being a purist of the genre, but I'm a purist of drama and its importance has been burned into my frontal lobe. Drama is life with the boring bits cuts out and that episode was a little pedestrian. It didn't feel like an organic Mick/Beth storyline".

BC:

Spoiler:

"I particularly like the scene with Beth and Mick when she's all horny and wants him to do whatever she wants him to," he smiles. "It was a shift from the normal Beth and I enjoyed watching Mick squirm. It's clear how they feel about each other, but it has to be unrequited because nothing good can come of any other decision."

The Ringer:

Spoiler:

"This is where it starts get intersting," notes O'Loughlin. "Chris Fisher directed this episode and he created the time for me that I wouldn't have had with other directors. His priority is always to get the best performances he can out of the actors - not his shots, the lighting or other things. I really like this epsiode from beginning to end, particularly the intensity. It's the introduction of the next step of Moonlight - of the next big dramatic storyline shift. And we start to see the cracks in Mick St John's veneer. We start to see where his pain lies. Coraline's the big love of his life. She's different to Beth, Coraline's the tempest, the tumultuous relationship, the pain and the love all mashed into one. It hasn't left him. He's carried it for 60 years and it runs pretty deeply."

[coco]

COCO!!!! YOU ROCK! I LOVE YOU!

You're welcome Grace. I found these comments fascinating when I read this earlier today. I learned so much about what Alex thought and what he favoured on the show. Not everyone is going to like the comments but I found it so intersting and I'm happy to share the excitement with everyone else.

12:04AM:

Spoiler:

"As strange as this sounds," says O'Loughlin, "I think this episode needed a couple more beats of violence. When you're dealing wiht an extremely powerful creature and this guy Mick is good at what he does, you think it's going to be a big showdown. But when it goes bang, bang, bang, it's only a medium-sized showdown, which pulls the drama out of it a little bit. I'm a boy - I like to see things blow up and I like long fight scenes. It wasn't bad, but I felt that when Mick and the other vampire had their confrontation, it was a little lame."

[coco]

Fleur de Lis:

Spoiler:

O'Loughlin admits that when he initially read the script he was a little sceptical about the fact that Mick seemed to be accepting the idea that Morgan wasn't Coraline. "I tried to find as many moments as I could in the script where we can see he still believes she's Coraline - that somehting isn't right," he says. "I like the tension that's all the way through the story. I like that it's hardcore.
"And Beth staking Coraline! incredible! There's also a moment when Mick is looking at Coraline and you can tell he's feeling real love for her. He hates to admit it, but he wants her back so bad and, ding-dong, Beth's at the door and, ohmygod, what a fight! She sticks that chair leg straight into that kid's chest. It's a pretty radical ending. The last ten minutes of this episode are incredible and I love where we leave it - Coraline in Mick's arms and him screaming to Beth, 'You idiot, she's not a vampire!"

Sleeping Beauty:

Spoiler:

"This is an important episode for Mick," observes O'Loughlin. "There's the shot when Beth is in the cab and he just walks away, and it pulls back to a wide shot. That isolation, in a sense, is the way he feels through a lot of this episode. Also, Josef has kept all of this [about Sarah] from him. He's supposed to be his best friend and he's been keeping this huge secret. Beth has gone back to Josh because she's gotten a sense of what her future could hold and I think Mick is feeling more isolated than ever. It's a very strong epsiode."

[darlingcat]

Coco, these are great!
Thanks for doing this, dear! I can't wait to read how Alex felt about the last four

[francis]

Coco, thank you soooo much!!!
I must say, I nod to everything Alex said, especially Arrested Development. There was just not enough to care for with that teen vampire. Alex knows about drama, and relationships, and what makes good t.v., and if I didn't already love him to death I would definitely start loving him now.
Thank you so much for letting us all read his comments.

[coco]

Love Lasts Forever:

Spoiler:

"This is a tough episode," says the actor. "Mick has affection for Josh. He sees death all the time, but this does something to him. It's the whole build up, when he's got his hands in this guy's stomach, trying to keep him alive. The aroma of blood, the need to feed breathing down on him, this wrongful deatch and loss of innocence. At the end of the episode, he weeps for the loss of innocence - the loss of his own innocence, because he truly is a victim of circumstance. I think it's a metaphorical episode and the fact that we lost one of our leads was hard-hitting."

The Mortal Cure:

Spoiler:

"Mick has been obsessed with a cure - the fact that there's a way out," says O'Loughlin. "There's an important moment in episode seven when Josef says to Mick, 'You've got to stop hating what you are. Accept it.' And Mick doesn't. Well, he does, but he lives in this controlled denial. He's not a stereotypical vampire - he's a reluctant vampire. In this episode he's cured and he remembers how painful it is to be human. And there's a gap between Mick & Beth, Coraline's gone and we don't know what's going to happen to Mick. It was a pretty exciting place to be left when the Writers' Guild strike happened."

[coco]

Fated to Pretend:

Spoiler:

"I remember reading that scene with Mick and Josef in the loft when Mick is going off to be the hero. Josef slaps him around a bit and says, 'You're out of your mind,' and Mick comes to realise what he has to do," says O'Loughlin. "So he reluctantly asks Josef to turn him back. I thought it came out great and it was a really evocative scene. That's one of the things that intrigue me about these creatures - there's so much ambiguity to them, which this scene played into sexually."

Click: [they used my avi pic here so for me]

Spoiler:

"What I like about this episode is the fact that it shows the risk that Mick faces on a daily basis in terms of possible exposure," O'Loughlin says. "Between this paparazzi guy and the fact that DA Talbot has a file on Mick yhou start to explore what could happen if this part of the lives of these creatures were exposed publicly. And with Beth going to Josef - wow! Knowing what her request will mean for this photographer shows more than a bit of ruthlessness on her part, but also the depth of her feelings for Mick."

[wpgrace]

Oh I am totally nodding my head with everything this man says! He totally gets it, and apparently I got him... I am amazed, anew, at his ability to project his character's every emotion... every thought... sometimes of course just with an eyebrow! I really felt his performances as he is describing them here... and I love that he enjoyed the conflicts and complications on the show... I thought they added so much to it...

I also love what he is saying about the drama part... I think the strengths and weaknesses of the eps ARE as he saw them. Fever WAS like watching a little movie... Teen Vamp WASN"T someone I cared about enough and it woulda worked better if we all had... I am hoping that as his career progresses, he will have more power to influence his shows... cause I think he is clearly good at it. Not just the acting part I mean.

And if they ever DO make an ML movie (well, it COULD maybe happen...), I hope they will REALLY listen to him.

I LOVE him.... and still loving you, darling Coco, you generous wonderful thing!

[darlingcat]

I love reading these, Coco
I am sitting here waiting for the next one
I love Alex's point of view and appreciate how much he enjoyed the drama in each episode.
They should have listened to him (and Trevor) and prolonged the tension but I guess it's a moot point now

They used your Click avi? You rock!

[coco]

Last two....

What's Left Behind:

Spoiler:

"The subject matter in this episode is pretty great and there's a lot of potential for storytelling dealing with Mick's past," notes O'Loughlin. "There's this guy who looks like he's twice as old as Mick, but could be his son. I felt like this was the strongest episode we did when we came back from the strike. I enjoyed playing this version of Mick and this side of him. Sometimes you wonder if he has the capacity to feel anything above and beyond what we've seen and I wanted to look a little deeper. He's faced with the things he wants most: his humanity, his mortality and the chance to grow old and die. There was no shortage of drama in that episode."

Sonata:

Spoiler:

"It felt like we did some pretty cool stuff in this one," says O'Loughlin. "It was great seeing the different vampires together and have us out on this mission. There as some very nice perfomances in it."
The standout moment for him is the climax when Beth says they can't be together - largely because of the codes governing the vampires - but he comes back into her apartment and the two begin to kiss.
"He's trying to keep the boundary there and the reality is that he can't allow this human girl to overrule the moral code that's been around for thousands and thousands of years, despite what his heart says. So he'll always have barriers there; he's a vampire. But then there's the part of him that will always love her, too. That's always been the great quandary fo his character. Then he leaves and what follows just came out of the moment. I was walking away from the apartment and I stopped outside the door and stood against the wall for a moment before going back inside. I wanted to continue that thread in the series - that feeling that there's a wall between them that will always be there, no matter what. But in that moment he decides he's still gonna have a go at it. The love is too strong, he's not going to walk away and he's still going to try and make it work."
Despite its premature cancellation, this final moment in Moonlight at least fulfilled the promise of the show's premise, having these two characters from different worlds uniting.

THE END.

Hope you all enjoy reading these as much as I did.

[darlingcat]

The love is too strong, he's not going to walk away and he's still going to try and make it work.