Josh Holloway, Finally Back With ‘Duster,’ Is Open to ‘Lost’ Reboot

Josh Holloway is still very Josh Holloway, and there’s something rather reassuring about that.

In his new Max series premiering Thursday, Duster — where the actor plays an Arizona getaway driver in the early 1970s — Holloway plays a long-haired dirtbag criminal with a heart of gold; the kind of guy who can affectionately call somebody “Peanut” and have it sound utterly charming. It’s a character that’s instantly recognizable to fans of his breakout role in ABC’s Lost, though with dashes of violence and a lot more profanity — which almost sounds jarring coming from him (there’s something sunny about Holloway which makes him feel inherently PG-13, in a good way).

The real Holloway both is and isn’t the Sawyer-esque figure that he can so comfortably inhabit on screen, as he’ll explain below. We also talk about how he came aboard the new show (which reunites him with Lost executive producer J.J. Abrams, who is showrunner along with LaToya Morgan), his long and frustrating Hollywood dry spell, struggling to stay skinny enough to fit into ’70s clothes and his surprisingly positive feelings about a Lost reboot.

***

In addition to Duster, you have three upcoming projects listed on IMDb. Are we in the middle of of a Josh Holloway resurgence?

Yeah. It’s interesting. I must have thrown the penny over the wrong shoulder and broke a mirror while I did it, because I had a hard seven years. Just hard — nothing was coming through. I had to focus on my family. I learned piano. I did all sorts of different things. I started telling my agents, “Just bring me work, I need to get out of house, it’s ridiculous, I only work for the Holloways now and I need to do something.” They started sending me random scripts. A lot of them that were not good projects that I had to pass on, but some came through.

And, of course, J.J. Abrams called. What was your initial reaction to Duster?

He called me out of the blue and immediately was like, “You got a minute?” I was like, “Yeah, I think I got a minute, J.J. Abrams!” He launched into pitching me this show and I couldn’t even believe what I was hearing. He said, “You’re a wheel man for the mafia in 1972” — and I had a hard time focusing on anything else he said after that. It was that old Jerry Maguire moment — “You had me at ‘hello.’” That was right before the pandemic and then HBO was sold twice. But we kept making it through everything. [We wondered] “Are they gonna cancel us?” No, no. We kept chugging along. So here we are.

What was that years-long waiting period like for you while Duster was sidetracked and did your feelings about the project or character evolve at all?

Well, yes. It was very difficult, quite honestly, because it’s you’re cocked and ready. It’s like you’re in a starting block for five years. It was a longest limbo I’ve ever been in. Also, you’re trying to look the same for five years. You have to be super skinny for the ’70s, they were all bean poles back then. So for filming, I’m about 18 pounds less than what I carry. So I was always ready to go, and then, ah, it’s off again.

“Can I eat the potato chips or can I not J.J. Abrams?”

Exactly! “Potato chips? No! You eat kale and dust!” But in the end, I was ready for the character. I’d found the tone where I wanted.

Can you believe you’re 55?

No, I cannot! My body tells me that I am, though. Because fight scenes are different. I did a lot of action throughout my career and it’s harder now. When I’m trying to drop kick somebody and I land on the cement, it’s different. But I love it still. How can you not? And luckily, a lot of the stunts are in the car, so the car has to take the beating.

When I talk to J.J., he is always very nice, but strictly business. Does he ever just call you to shoot the shit? What’s Abrams like when he’s not On — or is he always On?

He’s funny. His humor really comes out when he’s not having to be careful. He’s very quick and, yes, we’ll shoot the shit about like movie nerd stuff. He just sends me a picture of, like, a car from The Blues Brothers that he got a model of — he collects things. But also like I saw him in Jackson Hole where I was in this line, and he snaked me in line with his little entourage. I was like, “Did you just snake me?” And he turned and goes, “Didn’t you used to be handsome?”

Brutal.

I love that. He has a great sense of humor. He’s just got a lot going on all the time.

The character you play, Jim, has some clear echoes of Sawyer. Do you like that you have a bit of an onscreen persona that suits you and that fans enjoy? Or does it feel restrictive in some way? 

I actually I love it. We all have our different sides. I love that fans have embraced that side of me. Being raised Southern, I’m more a rule follower. I don’t say what I feel, I sugar-coat things. But the other side of me is like Sawyer and Jim. I’m a bit of a criminal — I bend the rules that I think are technically wrong, but not morally wrong. I like that side, and I like being a man. I like flirting. I appreciate ladies and that’s not okay in the world today. So to be on screen, it gives you permission to be that side of yourself. And I do other parts, like I just did this little comedy for a friend. No one ever asks me to do comedy, and he wanted me to do a little cameo, and I was like, “Hell yes!”

You became a certified stunt driver for this. What about that experience has changed driving for you in everyday life? Is there any part of it that is useful? Or distracting?

Very useful. I’m much more comfortable being very close to other cars now, or being close to the walls on freeways. None of that bothers me now because I had to train to drive right along someone’s door, or right on their bumper, so we could do precision stuff — squealing around a corner when you’re holding onto someone’s door is tricky, but fun. And once you get that, you’re like, “Oh, I understand what the car can do.” And yes, it’s distracting, too, because you want to pull 90-degree turns all the time — just stomp that emergency brake, do a nice little slide up, hit the gas and go.

That’s such a simple stunt, but cars won’t let you do it now because of the computers and skid control. That’s why I love the cars of the ’70s. The car will do what you tell it to do. So that was an element that I really loved. And stunt school was important not just for the stunts, but a lot of times, I’m either coming in hot, or leaving hot. You can hurt people with these little pull ups where you slide up and jump out of the car really fast. But it did is give me confidence in those moments like so I’m not going to run over the cameraman.

Did you get any injuries?

Yes, but in fight scenes, not in driving scenes.

You get to wear cool clothes in this too. Where do you shop in real life?

Man, I don’t buy clothes, unfortunately, because I have children. I buy clothes for them. But when I have my little pockets [of buying], I like [Ralph Lauren’s RR Western brand]. I like their vintage stuff. I like their leather jackets and jeans. I like that kind of look. And then I like John Varvatos for dressing nice — that little bit of rock and roll feel that he has.

So J.J. has worked with you several times. Lost showrunner Carlton Cuse worked with you again on Colony. What’s your secret — for lack of a better word — to forming good relationships with creatives that make them want to work with you over and over? 

I think that’s true of most actors, you get that “repeat customer” thing once you work with someone and you’ve done that journey together. Also, I’m a hard worker. I love to work, and they know that. They know I’m going to give it everything I got even if it kills me. And I know that of them. So we have a trust, and you got to have that trust if you’re launching a show. Your lead better be solid or you’re going to get down this road of creating a monster and not have someone carry it right. It’s an important thing and people fall apart. On set, sometimes you need someone who gets stronger as things get more difficult.

I don’t, actually, think every actor is like, but that is a very good philosophy. What feelings do you have when somebody says the words “Lost reboot”? 

I don’t know? I don’t have any feelings about it because I don’t believe they would do that. I would be in –of course, why not? But I feel like that show’s ending … I’m solid with closure. It’s been the most amazing experience and has the longest legs in the history of a TV show, it seems like. Now we’re back again because of Netflix. I remember some teenage girls laughing and looking at me, and I was like, “Oh god, what have I got on my face?” And they’re like, “You’re on Lost.” I was like, “Wow, you guys are just now watching that?” So it’s interesting to have people come up to you with their daughters or sons and say, “I watched it 20 years ago, now I’m watching it with my son or my daughter.” That’s special. I love that because I have children. So I always love it when you can find moments with your kids to share something with. Mine have never seen Lost, and they don’t give a damn [Laughs].

Those three other projects you have — Flint, Reimagined and He Bled Neon — what’s the latest on those?

Reimagined was the smaller comedy role for a friend I mentioned. It had Joel McHale, who I hadn’t seen since Community, and Paula Patton, who I hadn’t seen since I died in her arms in Mission Impossible III.

Then I played this really bad guy in He Bled Neon. I looked at the script, and got to page 16 and I still don’t even have a line yet and I’m like, “What is going on?” And then there’s a five-page monologue. I was like, “Oh shit, I guess it’s all right here!” It was the longest monologue I ever had.

And then [for a Western based on Louis L’Amour’s novel] Flint, I’ve been chasing L’Amour’s son, Beau, for 20 years for this role. I was on Lost for our first meeting about Flint. I wasn’t the right age then, because Flint was an older character. It took all that time, and I kept presenting him with different ideas. Finally, I got a call that some billionaire wants to fund it. We all fly down to Sarasota, got picked up in a chopper, went to this beautiful farm, and the next thing you know, we’re making Flint. So I’m like, “Wow! I guess that’s how this industry works.”

***

Duster releases new episodes Thursdays on Max.