First, a huge thanks to Alex O'Loughlin for taking the time to talk with us, not mention taking pictures, and signing some stuff.
It was a great day and we all helped out for a great cause! Here's what Alex had to say about the show, enjoy!
(Feel free to link, but please do not repost without permission - thanks!)

BW: Do you ever go online and check out the fan sites?
Alex: I get to work and there's like reams of paper of all the new fan sites, so basically I see everything that goes out.

BW: The show has built a die-hard fan base very quickly, why do you think that is?
Alex: I think the show has a lot of integrity. I think it has a lot of honesty and I think it has, - I think we've all taken it pretty seriously from the beginning and you know, we take the genre seriously and we also take the storytelling seriously. So we haven't come in with any mock intentions and I think everybody involved creatively from the writers to the producers to the actors, everybody just puts their heart and soul into it. It's not a half-assed project for anybody so I think that really shows.

BW: Were you happy with the changes then from the original pilot? In one of the original scenes when Mick first gets turned, he looks in the mirror & his face is all distorted & weird - it seems they've stepped far away from those kinds of 'cheesy' effects now.
Alex: You know you're never happy with cast changes because you, you know you grow fond of people, and you become accustomed to working with certain people. You get to know them and you know, you never want to see people have jobs taken away from them. But you know I love my new cast as I did my old cast and that certainly took some adjustment. But I think we really sort of, - I think we got it together really quickly and just made it work immediately. And I'm happy creatively with the changes, that they've taken all that schmaltz out.

BW: I know originally they had Rade Serbedzija playing the role of Josef. What did you think of them changing the character from such an older character to such a young guy?
Alex: I thought it was a really good and clever idea because the thing is with Rade being old enough to sort of be my father, it gave it - there was a sense of sort of ease with our relationship. There was a sense of you know, the trust and I don’t think they wanted Josef to be represented as a father figure for Mick. You know, they want him to be closer in age so that there can be like that two young rams thing. The two stags and there's - you never know what could happen any minute and so I think there's a few reasons - but for dramatic tension and all, I think there's more with Jason playing Josef.

BW: How would you like to see Mick develop personally as well as in his relationship with Beth?
Alex: I think it's very dangerous, the relationship with Beth. I think we have to be very careful with the way we do develop it. I think that the minute that anything really happens, you know what - the shows over. You know what I mean? I really think this love needs to be unrequited. I mean it is Romeo & Juliet. It’s like there has to be an element of that because once there's not it's a different show. We’re telling a different story, and so are we ready to move on and tell a different story? I don't think so. As far as Mick goes and his character, he's a pretty complex young/old man. I think he's developing pretty well, I feel like he's, I feel like I'm really finding him, and I find that the choices that I've made along with the writers and the creatives has sort of been layering this character to be really like human, pardon the pun, you know and layered, a multi-faceted and flawed creature. So I'm just exploring it, just doing that more and more. So ya, I'm happy with the direction in which we're going.

BW: How is the writer's strike going to impact the show getting a full season pick up?
Alex: It’s affecting it, it - you know, we can't write, we can't create any more episodes. They won't let us write again until we get the writers back and so if they called us tomorrow and said 'you've got a pick up' what does that mean? It doesn't mean anything until we have our writers, so we really need the strike to finish because it's put a pause on a new and vulnerable show that needs as much help as it can get, you know? The other thing is that it's a really tough show. The thing is with Moonlight you gotta understand we've got like a - the budget to do this show is way below what we need. It's a ten day show that we shoot in eight days. You know, I mean it's like a one hour drama, a character driven genre, so there's full-on makeup, there's full-on stunts, full-on special effects. So this is as hard as TV gets, TV doesn't get any harder to make than what we’re doing on the show. So with all that and all the pressure with everything else that's going on, it's like we need a little support. We need a little support from everyone. That's the thing, the fans have been so amazing & so that's the one thing that helps me get up and go to work each day. It's just knowing how much you guys believe in the show.

BW: Anything you'd like to say to the fans?
Alex: Thank you so much for being so supportive of the show and if, you know, you guys don't hear from me as much as you'd like to its only because I'm trying to make more Moonlight for ya, but know that you're all appreciated more than I can possibly say. You know you guys are part of the reason that we're still even being considered for a back nine, let alone a second season. So keep up the good work, as will I and we'll do it together.

We also had the opportunity to chat with Co-Executive Producer Dave Barrett who talked to us about the great music & a little bit about what he does for the show. Dave was also one of the main organizers of this event, and we thank him for chatting with us as well!

BW: So, tell me a little more about the music on the show.
DB: Well I just figured we'd try to step up the music with a stronger point of view. The movie that I really loved in the last couple of years was the last Batman movie, and I really wanted a score because there's so much history with these characters from 400 years ago that it deserves an intense, grand, passionate kind of music and that's what I’ve switched from episode like.. probably seven, in terms of what we scored. Trevor Morris - he's our new scorer; he just won an Emmy last year, he's amazing. In our needle-drop songs I wanted to try to reach out to a 'Nine Inch Nails' that hasn't agreed to do a song for 4 years. We sent a request and then they were like 'the show is really cool' and granted their song on our show which is pretty amazing - to have that kind of band. Then Blue October, hopefully we're going to do something with if we can. You know I think we have something pretty special. We're coming at the show from a stronger, grittier, point of view. I mean, for me to be an executive producer, to call Suzuki and get motorcycles, and then I'm in the editing room, picking out the music, helping with the scripts, planning with the directors, and then I'll hop on one of the motorcycles and actually be a stuntman - that's how passionate I am about the show.

BW: So how do you go about actually picking the songs for a scene?
DB: I watch the scene and then - I don't know, I'll just hear a song. I heard a Blue October song a month ago and I read a particular scene and I said 'this song will be perfect for that scene' and it was. It like gives you the chills. You know when you start to feel it all around. So I think we have something really special and intense that you’re going to like. You know it's great to have bands like NIN, The Fray, and Blue October all coming out and supporting the show. It's very cool.

BW: I know you probably can't give specifics but have you picked out a song for *SPOILER* (Click and drag over grey block to view)

when Josh, you know - when he get's offed?

DB: You know I have some really interesting choices, and I have not nailed down anything. I have not seen the cut yet, but believe me we are going with a pretty intense approach to that. I mean it's not going to be something that you're ordinarily gonna see on another show.

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