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For a lot of folks of a certain age, Josh Holloway will forever be the enigmatic con artist ‘Sawyer’ from the epic ABC series Lost. Blessed with a swagger and a mug which Humphrey Bogart would have readily approved of, Holloway’s ne’er-do-well character in those classic six seasons was no less than the bastard love child of Harrison Ford’s own signature character Han Solo intermingled with a nice dash of James Dean and Monty Clift. He was, in short, cool.
It’s not often that actors blessed with such a critical role in a hit show get a second time at bat, an opportunity to once again step in front of an audience and reintroduce themselves in another potentially iconic role. But Hollywood is nothing if not the world of second chances, and that’s certainly good news for Josh Holloway who has a brand-new series set to zoom into viewers hearts and minds, the upcoming 1970’s set Duster for which the actor has reteamed with Lost alum J.J. Abrams. Let the magic commence!
From our ‘Deep Dish’ pals over at The Hollywood Reporter comes the news that roguish thespian Josh Holloway is back and better than ever in the forthcoming HBO Max series Duster, the story of a wheelman for the mafia during the 1970s. Of course, there’s a twist to that rather humdrum premise which should keep viewers coming back for more. Curious? Check out the trailer for Duster right here!
Duster has been on Holloway’s dance card for the last five years and has, alongside co-showrunner J.J. Abrams, and throughout that latency period, the passion for working on the series has never waned for the actor. Though some may have viewed the extended development time for the new show nothing short of excruciating, for Josh Holloway it felt like more of the same for him as far as bad luck goes.
“It’s interesting,” Hollway mused during a recent sit-down to promote Duster. “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 the house, it’s ridiculous, I only work for the Holloways now and I need to do something.”
‘Something’ eventually morphed into Duster, a passion project for J.J. Abrams and fellow showrunner LaToya Morgan.
“He (Abrams) called me out of the blue,” reflected Holloway of that pivotal phone call, “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.”
Word of mouth for Duster has been nothing short of solid and promising, a little like the early buzz of another classic series, Lost. How does Holloway feel about his old alma matter and – GASP! – the possibility of a Lost reboot?
“I don’t know?” Holloway demurs about a new version of his old series becoming a thing. “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 loss and 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].”
Duster premieres May 15 on HBO Max.
