Special to The Lede
The new Max series DUSTER is set in the 1970s, and star Josh Holloway has a strong emotional connection to the era, despite only having experienced it through a youngster’s eyes.
“I grew up, you know, as a small child in the ’70s, but I remember it,” Holloway said. “I remember the freedom in the culture. It just felt more free. You were freer to do anything.”
Holloway then added, “and the hair … come on!”
Holloway is definitely rocking a classic early 1970s haircut in DUSTER, which was co-created by EMMY® Award winner J.J. Abrams and showrunner LaToya Morgan, and premieres Thursday, May 15, only on Crave. Set in the U.S. Southwest, DUSTER follows Holloway’s character Jim Ellis, a longtime driver for a crime syndicate whose dangerous but oddly comfortable life is turned upside down with the arrival of a tenacious young FBI agent named Nina Hayes, played by Rachel Hilson.
“The idea came about because J.J. had an image in his head from a few years ago,” Morgan explained. “It was a phone booth, a phone ringing in the middle of the desert, and a muscle car racing up to it. And (Abrams) said, ‘I think maybe Josh Holloway jumps out of that car.’ And I was like, ‘I dig this idea.’ So we really started pitching out ideas of what it could be, and really building the show together, and we decided to work on it together.”
So Abrams wanted Holloway for DUSTER right from the start?
“Yes, yes, he wanted some Josh Holloway,” Morgan confirmed. “We all want some Josh Holloway.”
Holloway, of course, has been an actor for more than 25 years, and is best known for his six-season arc as Sawyer on LOST, which was co-created by Abrams.
“Everything! Are you kidding me?” said Holloway when asked what drew him to DUSTER. “First, it was J.J. who called, and I was like, ‘yes, the answer is yes, whatever it is you’re asking, I’m in.’ It’s just exciting to have anyone of that calibre artistically calling you for something. And then he just proceeded to kind of pitch me this show, and every step of the way it just got better, because it’s set in 1972, muscle cars, the explosion of music and individuality, and all the cultural explosions during that time. It was so rich.”
Hilson’s character in DUSTER basically embodies change, but she faces many obstacles because of it.
“We took some creative liberties in this show, because I think the first black female agent in the FBI was Sylvia Mathis in 1976,” Hilson said. “But we took it back a few years, because obviously, ’72 is such a rich period, and that was when women were allowed in the FBI, just not black women.”
Hilson continued, “what’s interesting is that for Nina, this was really about her agenda, about her mission, about getting justice in the way that she felt was the most effective. This was her vehicle to do that. So I think she comes in with all of the feelings, and all of the, I guess, trauma that she knows the FBI has put on the black community. But she’s there to do a job. Obviously she’s in there with mostly white men who are there to really knock her down. But I think she realizes by the end that she can be a part of this organization. She can bring in her own experience and expertise to make this place potentially better.”
While it might sound as if DUSTER is telling a very dark tale, there’s a playful tone to it that Holloway really appreciates.
“Well, I hope (viewers) take away a smile, and a swagger about themselves,” he said. “You know what? Yeah, life is difficult. Things happen. But keep it breezy. I love playing this character, and speaking with LaToya and J.J. about this, because if you just read what happens on the page, a lot of bad (bleep) happens, you know? You can play it in a way that is much more serious. But (Jim) works for the mafia, and so yes, bad things happen, but it’s still just a Monday. And he likes his job.”
Holloway admitted that in his own personal life, he’s often “more dramatic and emotional” than Jim tends to be.
“So it was nice to find that balance of someone who is sensitive, and yes, is aware of the things going on, but also has resilience, and a breeziness about him just to continue,” Holloway said. “So I loved that. And I feel the same with Rachel’s character. Even though she’s being bombarded with all this prejudice, with all these things trying to make her fail, there’s a lightness in her reactions, and in her performance, that is disarming, and allows her to get things done. Same with Jim. His breeziness is disarming in a way, and he can move through situations that you might get stuck in otherwise. So I hope that’s what (viewers) take away. Carry on. Keep a smile.”
@billharris_tv
