We know. You’re not used to seeing Moonlight‘s Alex O’Loughlin looking like a serial killer with OCD. (You prefer to remember him the way we do: either holding a "Hi Slezak!" sign at 2008′s New York Comic Con or shirtless.) But it’s only for a role. O’Loughlin guest stars on tonight’s episode of Criminal Minds (CBS, 9 p.m. ET) as what fans of the series know as the Unsub, or unidentified subject. He plays a man who sends a video of one of his murders to the BAU team, hoping that they’ll be able to end the bloody spree that he himself cannot stop. We phoned O’Loughlin for a quick chat about the part, his CBS drama pilot Three Rivers, and the romantic comedy he begins shooting next month with Jennifer Lopez, The Back-Up Plan.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: We can’t actually go further into your character on Criminal Minds without giving the twist away, but tell us how the part came to you.
ALEX O’LOUGHLIN: The genius writer and friend of mine Simon Mirren [one of the show's co-executive producers] offered it to me. I’m eating an apple while we talk. Is that okay?

That is fine, yes.
Thank you. I read it and was like, "Absolutely." It’s not often that I get to play character roles. You kinda leave drama school and you head off into a direction and that’s the direction you take. You’re either on the character actor route or the leading man route. It was a delight for me to play a role like this.

You are the leading man in the CBS pilot Three Rivers. [We'll know May 20, when CBS announces its fall schedule, if it gets picked up for next season.]
I play a cardiothoracic surgeon called Andy Yablonski, who’s based on a real-life surgeon called "Gonzo" Gonzales-Stawinski who’s become a wonderful friend of mine. He’s a cardiothoracic surgeon up at the Cleveland Heart Clinic, which I spent a bunch of time at in my preparation for the role. It’s a fantastic script that’s really grownup and smart and important. It tells the story of organ transplants from three perspectives: The organ, the recipient, and — the organ? [Laughs] It tells it from the organ’s perspective. From the recipient, the donor, and the surgical team.

I read that Andy is separated from his wife and lives in a motel near the hospital. Is that right?
Yeah, connected next to the hospital, actually. So he can live his job even more than he usually does.

The word motel always sounds kinda seedy to me, so I thought maybe we’d get to see him taking advantage of that proximity. But if he’s a workaholic…. Are we not gonna see sex scenes is basically what I’m asking you.
Ohmygod. No, I told them I’m happy to do whatever sex scenes they want. Either with actors or by myself. So they’re getting back to me on that. That may or may not be a reason why they pick up the show. "He’s obsessed with sex. No, we’re not gonna pick the show up. Moonlight f—ed with him. He’s kinda all weird now."

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