awesome Josh Holloway interview
NO SOONER HAD Josh Holloway told us that he’s ready to do movies than reports broke out that Marvel Comics is in talks with him to appear in “The Avengers.” In a press con, Josh said he’d like to take a break from TV for at least “a couple of years.”The long-haired actor said that with his earnings playing Sawyer in “Lost” and with his Indonesian wife Yessica Kumala taking care of the books, he can afford to concentrate on getting his movie career off the ground.
We’ve always thought that it was only a matter of time before Josh became a movie star, too. He was considered for the role of Gambit in “X-Men: The Last Stand,” but his “Lost” commitment prevented him from seriously pursuing the part.
In these excerpts, Josh talked about his future and life with Yessica, a charming, free-spirited character whom we first met in a dinner with the “Lost” cast in Hawaii in 2006.
What do you plan to do now?
I’m ready to do some movies. I’m going to hang off TV for a couple of years. Luckily, my wife is like the CIA of finance so I can make artistic decisions and hold back. It’s a little bubbling of excitement and nervousness.
Where will you live?
We’ve fallen in love with Hawaii and we have very close friends there. So we’re going to be in LA, Hawaii and Colorado. We kept our place and we have a little getaway in the Colorado Rockies because I’m a mountain man. Movies shoot everywhere so you never know where you’re going to be. I talked to some actors and they were like, “I had a house in LA. I was there for two months out of five years.” So hopefully, it goes that way. Who knows? Movies, here I come.
What did you like about Hawaii?
I hiked to places no one has been. It was all off-road places. There’s a lagoon where you would be like, “Wow, let’s get naked.”
Has Yessica’s family accepted you?
Yes, they have. I’ve become bona fide, if you will, thanks to the international success of “Lost.” I’m over there in Indonesian TV as well. Her father being a traditional Asian man, there’s a certain protocol. I wrote him a letter. Things are cool. I’m looking forward to actually going to Indonesia. My wife became a US citizen. We can travel now. I have a beautiful little daughter who is a year and a month old, who’s in that precious little drunken pirate stage where she falls into everything. So it’s beautiful-what a wonderful thing to have a child. I’m thrilled.
How did you and Yessica meet?
I met her at a bar here in LA. She picked me up-that little frisker. I remember I was going over to probably say something dumb to her friends who were very pretty. When I started to go over, a girl slapped me on the shoulder, looked at me up and down, grabbed her martini and said, “Give me your number before you leave” and then she split. I was like, “Who was that?” Twenty minutes later, she came up and hit me on the shoulder again with her cell phone. She asked, “What’s your number? Oh yeah, what’s your name?” I gave it. I asked, “What’s your number?” She said, “I don’t give it out” and she was gone again. She called me two weeks later. I was already thinking, she’s obviously not interested. That’s how our relationship started. She picked me up. It was awesome.
So you are more of a shy type with the ladies?
As much as I wanted to think that I was Mr. Playboy and had game, I don’t. I’m more of a family guy. I’m kind of shy. I will go out there and hit the game, be outgoing and everything but inside, I’m not really going to snap you on the shoulder and say, “Give me your number before you leave.” We laugh about that because she said, “Yeah, you thought you had game.”
What was it like filming the last few episodes of “Lost”?
A lot went on. It was like the last days of school before graduation. There was this giddy feeling. You find yourself giggling or doing weird stuff. There was strong camaraderie in the last weeks. It was a lot of hard work, too. It was really bittersweet.
It was one of the biggest finales to film. We were wet. Being sprayed over and over with a hose will break you down. It was tough-work, laughs, fun, desperation and all those at once. But we got to hang out and really took in the moments that we could. We had a lot of group shots which was great. We had some great jams and three-part harmonies going.
How are you spending your break?
I’m going fly fishing in the Rockies. I’ve really gotten into fishing and fly fishing. I finally got to where I can catch, net the fish and release them without hurting them. It takes a while to get all of it down. Fly fishing is gentle fishing. You don’t want to hurt them.
I’m going to teach it to my daughter. I’m going to get a little pole and a little yarn ball. By the time she’s 4, she’ll be a world-class fisherman and not even know it.
What about the fish you caught in Hawaii? Did you cook them?
I didn’t go fishing again until I’ve cleared it out. My wife said, “The fishing gods will not let you catch another fish unless you finish this or give it to a neighbor with the aloha spirit.” So I cooked all my fish and presented it to my neighbors before I went out again. But I sold the boat because I had to leave. It was sad and a relief at the same time. Anyone who was on the boat knows the whole story. The happiest day is when you buy the boat and when you sell it because it’s a hole in the ocean where you put all your money. I had many epic adventures out there.
Can you share some of those adventures?
One was scary with Daniel Dae Kim when I first got the boat. I had no knowledge and I took him out in a storm. Luckily, it was with Daniel because he was so calm even though the conditions were terribly harsh. I was like, “We’re okay, right?” He said, “Oh yeah.” My most fun trip was when we circumnavigated Molokai. I was with my stunt guy who’s an ex-Army Ranger. I said, “Dude, jump over and tie the anchor off.” He said, “You got it, Sarge.” He was my crew. We caught fish, anchored in a bay, paddled our boat in, cooked fish on the sand and had some fine red wine. It felt like a major accomplishment.
How did you grow in the last six years that you were in “Lost”?
A lot has happened in six years. I have grown so much-getting married, dealing with the growth explosion of the show, having a child and that talk about rocking your character. The biggest thing is I’ve become a lot more patient and less selfish, though I still try to hold onto my selfish ways (laughing).
Marriage and family is beautiful, plus having our first home together and actually being recognized in your work. That’s a huge hurdle as an actor-to be accepted. Before, people asked, “What do you do?” I’d say, “I’m an actor.” But I was a little embarrassed to say it because I hadn’t done anything. They asked, “What have you been in?” I said, “Well, a McDonald’s commercial.”
Life has taught me to be present, patient and not to always look at the end result. Wait and discover it. It will come out in some way you do not really expect it would. Acting is getting exciting for me in that way.
I recently saw pictures of you, looking very young, in Italy.
I lived in Milan for a year and then I moved. I fell in love with an Italian woman. I moved to Bologna. I spoke fluent Italian then. Now I don’t. It has been 17 years since I’ve really had a conversation in Italian. I started off working as a model. I just fell in love with Europe. I was traveling around and had those experiences. It was hilarious. I was like 19, 20 years old. I was completely broke. I washed my undergarments in the bidet of a one-star hotel. I’d go to my girlfriend’s place and drive a Volvo. It was such a dichotomy living.
Sawyer had a little bit of the criminal in him. Do you have a dark side too, and have you done anything that could be labeled a bit criminal?
Of course, I have. I can’t tell you what it was because I got in trouble in my first interview ever for “Lost.” Someone asked me the same question and I said, “Absolutely, let me tell you what I did.” Then I got a call from all my people, even my brothers at home who said, “What are you doing? You could go to jail telling that.” So yes, I have experienced criminal activity in my youth-kind of a scam on big corporations. I wasn’t stealing from an individual or anything, if that makes it better. I left as “employee of the month” so I thought it was time to go-you’ve used all your karmic points. Since then, I’ve seen the error of my ways. I’m pretty straight and narrow now.
Let’s go back to your wife being like the CIA of finance …
I joke but it’s serious. When I say that my wife is like a CIA of finance, I mean it. She’s a finance major. I put her in charge of the books although I make the decisions. I have been on the same budget since Season One. I actually got a raise in Season Two. And then I got a pay cut from my wife because she said, “Hey, you’re not spending this extra money.” I said, “What are you, the government? If I don’t spend it, I don’t get it? Do I just waste it so I get my per diem?”
I have a little extra money and I can buy fishing rods and equipment but other than that, money has been socked away. I grew up working hard my whole life. This is the first time I can step back and look at things artistically. I’ve never done that. I always needed to work because I got to make some money to buy a home and have a family. It’s part of our instinct to provide and protect. I never felt I would get married unless I could do that. I was able to get married, have my first home and a child, make some artistic decisions, not to mention buy some toys (laughing). It has been good.
How many boxes of tissues did you use on your last day on the set of “Lost”?
About 20 because we were wet for six weeks. They were spraying us with hoses forever. So other than that, I haven’t cried yet. We were at full sprint right up to the end. I have to catch my breath a little bit and then cry. It hasn’t really settled in. But trust me, in about four months, you can find me in a corner crying somewhere, rocking back and forth (laughing).
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