Gabriel Macht (“The Spirit”) and Alex O’Loughlin (TVs “Moonlight”) join Kate Beckinsale in the new thriller “Whiteout”. Moviehole caught up with them both recently.
Can you describe your characters? Who is Robert and who is Russell?
ALEX O’LOUGHLIN Russell is an Australian pilot who’s based in the same base we meet all the characters, where they all live. He does fly-outs. He moves gears, scientific equipment, people, food and supplies. They have a string of pilots working down there. They sort of run their own schedule. As long as they get the work done, it doesn’t really matter. He’s an Aussie lad, he’s a bit of a womanizer, he’s got all these sort of fronts, that’s his way of portraying himself that is, that keeps everyone at arm’s length, because essentially he has, like all the characters in the show, another agenda. He has an MO. In this very close-knit community, he does his best to keep everybody as far away from his business as he can.
The action takes place in Antarctica and obviously you couldn’t shoot there, but you did shoot in a very cold place, what was that experience like?
AO We shot in northern Manitoba on the frozen lakes, which is about three hours north of Winnipeg. And it was cold. It was minus forty, minus fifty. We spent the first couple of weeks there, and then we went to Montréal and we spent a few months in the sound stages and did all the internal stuff we needed to do. The great thing about doing all the exteriors where we did them in the conditions that we did them in, is that, essentially, that’s very close to the conditions where this film is situated and where these people live and have to survive. And it changes how you feel. Your blood pressure drops, you get dizzy, euphoric, and the simplest tasks become difficult. You can’t see the horizon for the edge of the ice, and so you can get disorientated very quickly. So it was very helpful as an actor.
I hear Kate Beckinsale has a great sense of humor. What was it like working with her?
AO Yeah. The lead actor of a film sets the tone for the film and sets the tone for everybody, and she set a great tone.
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Kate Beckinsale was also interviewed by Moviehole. Here’s what she had to say about her male co-stars:
“Gabriel, Alex and Columbus were, and I were just this extremely tight group on the set because it was quite difficult. It was quite grueling, and we did get beaten up every day. And you really want to feel that you’ve got people around you who you can have a good laugh with and have your back. And I just got so lucky. I got the best boys ever. And we’ve really stayed… I mean, Columbus and I’ve been on a holiday with our families together and had Christmas together and… So they’re really, they’re very strong relationships, and they’re all really silly and funny.”