Josh Holloway slides in and out of a Southern drawl — he drags his vowels a bit too long to be just another California guy with movie star good looks. He also laughs when he talks, and flashes a smile electric enough to power the Georgia Dome.
Holloway, of course, is the Canton native who is lighting up small screens all over in the TV series that will likely go down in history as one of the most head-scratching, brain-wrangling of all time, ABC’s “Lost.”
If you’re a fan of the series, you know that the actors are kept almost as much in the dark as viewers. Holloway has no idea what the fate of his character, James “Sawyer” Ford, will be and, as a rule, the cast has to keep mum on how the final season of the show will start off. But Holloway says it’ll be a doozy.
Here’s what else Holloway, 40, and married to Yessica Kumala, had to say about the series, his life and why he was never able to finish his education at the University of Georgia.
Q: This role has been pretty iconic for you. How do you wrap your head around it?
A: Wow. The same way I did since Season 1 began: I don’t! I pretty much shoot from the hip. We don’t get a lot of notice to what’s coming next, so I pretty much operate from that place. Whatever you give me, I’ll go with it. It’s been quite a journey and I really have enjoyed the evolution of this character and the complexity that they allowed me to hopefully honor.
Q: So how challenging has that been for you to not know what’s coming next?
A: It’s challenging, but now it’s become the norm. I don’t want to know too much information. It’s actually kind of nice the way this show in particular is structured. It’s better not to know. It’s better to kind of fumble around and discover things in the moment. I think they realized that on this show and that’s why they designed it in such a way.
Q: Has that process changed you as an actor?
A: I don’t know. Maybe I have been changed as an actor. I don’t prepare anymore. I just go with it. No, it’s been great; amazing.
Q: You grew up in Georgia and went to the University of Georgia. Have you always been a big Bulldogs fan?
A: I went to UGA for a quarter. One quarter of my extended university life. I enjoyed it. UGA was a blast. I crashed all the frat parties, dressing like a frat boy, acting like I was one of them. I had too much fun. So I had a good time for the quarter that I was a Bulldog. Go Bulldogs!
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