Josh Holloway, who has played James “Sawyer” Ford across six seasons of Lost, made it alive through the penultimate episode. Whether his character will survive all the way to the end of Sunday night’s big finale, or will be made, by the show’s writers, to pay for his character’s many sins, is anyone’s guess. I’m betting it’s so long, Sawyer, both on the island and in sideways world.

Holloway has been a key cast member from the very start, lighting up the small screen with his charming wise-assery from the J.J. Abrams-directed pilot onward. In the show’s early years, he was the perfect foil to the more sensible and heroic Dr. Jack Shephard, played by Matthew Fox, and he was just right as the bad boy in the ongoing Kate-Jack-Sawyer love triangle. Later on, Sawyer had a domestic phase, as the contented partner to Elizabeth Mitchell’s Juliet character, before returning to his angry-goofball-con-man roots.

The surprising thing about Holloway is this: Prior to joining the cast, at age 35, he had made his name as a male model, with acting roles here and there; but from the start of Lost he took charge of his character, displaying a range and charisma he hadn’t shown before. He has perhaps proved himself the most versatile performer on the series. He hasn’t won an Emmy, like his classically trained cast mates Terry O’Quinn and Michael Emerson, but he has been more than persuasive as an action guy, lover boy, and truth-telling fool. With his he-man physicality, male-model looks, and comic touch, he might end up a persuasive lead in romantic comedies or straight-ahead action pictures. If things break the right way, if he selects decent scripts, he could have the film career Matthew McConaughey should have had before he hopped the train to crazy town.

I watched Holloway on the Lost soundstage for two days in February. He seemed to be one of the most popular cast members with the crew; he’s a friendly dude, with nothing of the pampered star about him, and he had some sort of inside joke for almost everyone he passed. We spoke on the metal steps of his trailer on the day he was shooting the big submarine sequence, during which a mistake made by his character leads to a few of his fellow castaways going kablooey. He was having a smoke as he talked. Through the trailer door I spotted his guitar. He seemed humble, with more than a hint of the actor’s insecurity, as if he couldn’t believe his luck. (Click here to read more…)