Josh Holloway

The model who hated the runway

Josh Holloway arrived at the audition for Lost in 2004 with greasy hair and very real anger, because he had just lost his car keys. He wasn't looking to be the hero of the show. This Georgia guy, who had spent years knocking on modeling agency doors in Europe, needed to pay his bills once and for all.

The runway wasn't his place. In 1990 he dropped out of the University of Georgia after just one quarter because the money didn't stretch any further. He worked picking up roadkill and carrying bricks before his face appeared in Aerosmith's music video for Cryin’ in 1993.

That job gave him just enough to move to Los Angeles.

But the industry didn't welcome him with open arms. For a decade he picked up tiny roles in shows such as Walker, Texas Ranger in 1999 or low-budget horror movies nobody remembers. In 2002 he shot Sabotage, and critics didn't even mention his name in the reviews the following Monday.

He almost gave up everything to become a real estate agent.

The shipwreck that saved his bank account

When J.J. Abrams saw him kick a chair during the audition, he knew he had his James Ford. Sawyer's character in Lost between 2004 and 2010 pulled him out of complete obscurity. But Holloway never felt comfortable with the TV heartthrob label the American press pinned on him (especially after People magazine named him one of the most beautiful people in 2005).

During the shoot in Hawaii, Holloway bought a boat and spent his free hours far from the spotlight. He insisted that his character not be a flat type and fought to keep the dark side that set him apart from traditional leading men. And the bet paid off.

But the end of the series in 2010 left him facing a wall that was hard to climb. He tried to break into big-budget movies with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in 2011. His role was brief (just a few minutes in the opening sequence in Budapest), and the big leading role on the big screen never quite arrived.

He took the lead role in the series Intelligence in 2014.

CBS canceled the project after just thirteen episodes due to low ratings. It was a hard blow for an actor trying to prove there was life beyond the island. But in 2016 he found stability again with Colony under the direction of Carlton Cuse. He played Will Bowman for three seasons until production abruptly ended in 2018.

Forests, Horses and a Return to the Desert

In 2020 he joined the cast of Yellowstone to play Roarke Morris. It was a necessary change of pace, trading the jungle for expensive suits and financial intrigue in Montana. Creator Taylor Sheridan was looking for someone who could intimidate the Duttons with a smile, and Holloway fit the Wall Street shark profile effortlessly.

He signed a contract for ten episodes that allowed him to reconnect with American cable audiences. But his focus has always been on projects with a more personal creative signature.

In 2023, his return to television was announced with Duster for the Max streaming service. The story is set in the American Southwest in the 1970s and casts him as a getaway driver working for a crime syndicate. Holloway has always preferred dusty backroads to the red carpets of California premieres.

Production on Duster was stalled by industry strikes in 2023, and the shoot moved to New Mexico locations to keep the final budget at 2024.