Alex O’Loughlin is an Australian actor, writer and director, who plays Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett on CBS’s remake of the television series “Hawaii Five-O.” He had starring roles in the films “Oyster Farmer” and “The Back-up Plan,” as well as on such television series as “Moonlight” and “Three Rivers.” Take a look below for 24 more fun and interesting facts about Alex O’Loughlin.

1. O’Loughlin was born on August 24, 1976, in Canberra, Australia, of Irish and Scottish descent.

2. His father is a physics and astronomy teacher in Sydney and his mother is a nurse.

3. O’Loughlin suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder when he was a child.

4. He enrolled at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney in 1999 and graduated in June, 2002, after completing a three-year, full-time Bachelor of Dramatic Art program.

5. He began working in short films and fringe theater as a teenager in Sydney.

6. One of his first acting jobs was an extra in a commercial, playing a Marine.

7. After graduating from the NIDA, he began his career in Australian television and film productions.

8. Some of his television credits include roles in “BlackJack: Sweet Science, “Love Bytes” and “White Collar Blue.”

9. In 2004, he landed his first film role, the lead in “Oyster Farmer.”

10. He later appeared in “Man-Thing,” “Feed” and in the Australian mini-series “The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant.”, for which he was nominated as Best Lead Actor in Television from the Australian Film Institute Awards in 2005 and as Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series from the Logie Awards in 2006.

11. O’Loughlin joined the cast of “The Shield” in 2007 as Detective Kevin Hiatt, the newest member of the strike team.

12. In 2005, he screen tested for the movie role of James Bond.

13. He left “The Shield” in 2007 after he won the lead role on the CBS series “Moonlight,” where he played private investigator and vampire Mick St. John.

14. In August 2008, CBS signed a talent development deal with O’Loughlin as the star of a television series to be developed by writer Mark Gordon, but it didn’t materialize.

15. He was cast in the lead role of the CBS hospital drama “Three Rivers,” developed by producer Carol Barbee, which aired Sunday evenings in the 2009 and 2010 season.

16. In April 2009, he guest starred in an episode of “Criminal Minds” in the Season Four episode, “The Big Wheel,” as an OCD ridden serial killer, Vincent Rowlings.

17. O’Loughlin was cast in the CBS remake of “Hawaii Five-O” portraying Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarret, which premiered on September 20, 2010.

18. On March 2, 2012, CBS announced that O’Loughlin would miss shooting some episodes of “Hawaii Five-O” to seek drug treatment related to pain management medication prescribed after a shoulder injury.

19. He was slated to miss at least one episode from the second season.

20. In August 2013, the Los Angeles-based non-profit Australians in Film announced that O’Loughlin would be honored with a Breakthrough Award at a ceremony held on October 24, 2013, in Los Angeles.

21. His first child, a son, was born in 1997, to a girlfriend from whom he has since separated.

22. He separated from his long-time girlfriend, Australian actress Holly Valance, in February 2009.

23. He and his then-girlfriend, Malia Jones have a son born in 2012.

24. He is the current ambassador for Donate Life America.