Three Rivers Turned Alex O'Loughlin & Cast On to Healthy Habits

What made Alex shy away from burgers and Katherine Moennig brush up on her dental health?

Talk about taking your role to heart.

After learning all about the world of organ donation to prepare for their roles on Three Rivers, CBS' new medical drama based in the leading transplant hospital in the country, some of the show's stars made some key lifestyle changes.

"Usually [organ damage is] from a lifestyle," explained Alex O'Loughlin (Dr. Andy Yablonski) at today's Television Critics Association press tour. "And it's from doing the things that we do from time to time like smoking and drinking and eating bad stuff. And a sick heart and the smell of a sick organ, dude, there's nothing like it to turn you off a burger and fries. I'll take a salad and a water tonight."

As for Katherine Moennig (Dr. Miranda Foster), the experience has made her brush up on her dental health. (You'll laugh at that in a second.) "We found out that heart disease is mainly caused by bad teeth," said The L Word star. "That can cause terrible heart disease. So the second we wrapped, I ran to the dentist." 

"We all started brushing," joked Daniel Henney (Dr. David Lee), who was not an organ donor before signing up for the show. "It's completely changed everything about the way I think about it." Alfre Woodard, too, was not an organ donor prior to getting the gig as Dr. Sophia Jordan. "I never thought about it," she said.

Christopher J. Hanke (Ryan Abbott), on the other hand, admitted that he doesn't even know if he is a donor or not, but that's about to change. "I just moved to California, and I am going to get a driver's license for the State of California," he said, "and you will be dang sure that I'm going to check that box to be an organ donor. And also it's like a great way to live green, I guess."

Live green. Donate an organ.

Three Rivers debuts on CBS Oct. 4 at 9 p.m.