We’ve been so busy covering every aspect of Jennifer Lopez’s alleged film comeback as she excessively promotes The Back-Up Plan, we’ve failed to notice the certified hottie she’s costarring with. I give you the lovely Alex O’Loughlin! He’s Australian (which I just found out), he’s a Virgo (me too!), he’s 33 years old, and he’s totally gorgeous. I was just glancing through his IMDB page, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in anything, although it seems like he’s been working steadily in television and films for the past six years or so.

I just heard him speak in his natural Aussie accent last night on E!, and I was overcome. Usually it’s the English accents that do that for me (or the Scottish… or the Irish… sigh), but Alex’s accent is not so overdone that Americans can’t understand him. Oh, and he’s going to work on the Hawaii 5-O rebooted television show, with Daniel Dae Kim from Lost…aw, that sounds kind of good. Plus, he’s clean-cut and he’s starring in a J.Lo movie! Moms will embrace him, trust me. Oh, and he’s single…someone’s getting on People’s Sexiest Man Alive list this year!

Let’s see how he comes across in interviews:

On his chemistry with Jennifer Lopez: “I flew to New York, I was in Pittsburgh at the time, I flew up and I spent the night in New York and I went out with Alan Poul, the director, and I went out to her and Marc’s [Anthony] family house in Long Island. I met with her and I met with Marc and the kids and we hung out and then I sat with her for a while and we had a cup of tea and just got to know each other. It was good, we really clicked. We kind of got each other’s sense of humor. We just got each other. We realized that we were kind of each other’s people so we got along well and the rest is history. We had a great time on set.”

What is Jennifer Lopez’s house like? “There was no Snuggie or anything, but there was a cannonball sitting in the middle of the table. I thought that was interesting. Marc [Anthony] collects a lot of ancient artifacts, so he’s got a lot of stuff from Greece that was fascinating. I actually started talking to him, hanging out with him when I should have been in the meeting with Jennifer.”

What kind of guy is he in relationships? “I’m very independent and I find it difficult to find trust in the fact that I might be able to make something work for one person. Times are different now, you know? In my grandfather and grandmother’s generation, forever meant forever. It doesn’t seem like forever exists anymore. It seems like people are sort of fickle in love and in marriage and so many marriages end up in divorce, so it was nice to play a guy who was so clear in his resolve. For the most part, he was like, “Hey listen, this is how I feel, I love you, I’m going to show up, and I’m going to participate and I’m not going to go anywhere and I need you to do the same if this is going to work.” I guess it’s the kind of guy I’d like to be.”

On sex scenes: “You just do the scene with the utmost respect and courtesy to get the job done. Really it’s awful and anyone who thinks filming sex scenes is hot would be wrong. Even if it was with someone you were attracted to, there are 50 people standing around. I’d be happy to never do another one again.”

Would he be as understanding as his character if and when he’s dealing with a wife/girlfriend’s pregnancy? “I don’t know. It would entirely depend on the woman. I haven’t met the woman that I’m going to spend my life with … as far as I know. So I don’t know what it’s like when that situation crops up, but I think if it’s the great love, it’s the great love.”

On his fan base of women: “Yeah, I do have a great fanbase, and they’re wonderful. They’ve been very supportive of my career and very understanding of my life and the fact that I’m not very good at blogging or Twittering or anything like that. I’m deeply appreciative of my fans and I try to express that whenever possible, and I certainly like to express that in my work. This movie needs to make some money — it’s important to Jennifer and it’s important to me, and it’s important that people enjoy it. I think it’s a good film. I’ve seen it, and I enjoyed it.”

On his fame: “I don’t really act like I’m famous. I just do my thing. I’m not that famous, dude. [Laughs] Sometimes I get pointed out or some people shuffle up and ask for an autograph or a photograph, but I’m not at a point where I can’t leave the house, thank God. I think the downsides would be losing your anonymity and not being able to trust people, to tell whether people want to be with you and get to know you because of your celebrity or because of who you are. I just try to carry the sense of integrity and authenticity I had in the beginning of my career, because I think that’s what makes people interested in you in the first place. It’s important not to lose that.”

[From The New York Post, Movieline & She Knows]

Okay, I could totally spend the whole day looking up Alex’s interviews – there are a ton, and I can’t believe this is the first time I’m actually reading about him and learning about him. At times he comes across as a really nice, sweet guy, and other times you can tell he’s still a “dude” you know? Like, he’s not even committing to the idea of fatherhood, much less fatherhood itself. Oh, but in the Movieline interview, he did get cute when he was talking about J. Lo and her family, and he referred to Max and Emme as “my own little mates.” Swoon away.

Alex promoting The Back Up Plan, credit: Pacific Coast News.