Stunt driver? Call Josh Holloway; he knows a 'Duster'

If you need a stunt driver, call Josh Holloway.

To play a getaway pro in the 1970s, the “Lost” star went to Rick Seaman Motion Picture Driving Clinic and learned the finer points of shifting a muscle car. Stop on a dime? He can do it.

“I learned everything they tell you not to do in a car,” he says with a smile. “It’s like Disneyland for people who like that kind of thing.”

The goal: To look like a professional for “Duster,” a series set in the 1970s involving the FBI and a Southwest crime syndicate. Holloway plays a getaway driver who’s pulled into the mix. Rachel Hilson plays the first Black female in the Phoenix office. And, yes, there are plenty of references to pop culture in those retro times.

For Holloway, the concept was ideal. “I grew up as a small child in the ‘70s, but I remember it,” he says. “I remember the freedom in the culture. You were freer to do anything, especially as a child. Your parents basically said, ‘Come back for dinner,’ so there was not that helicopter-type thing.”

Holloway and his brothers “grew up loving cars,” including the Duster “because it’s an obscure muscle car.”

For the series, there were four Dusters, each with its own quirks. On one, “the brakes are a little spongy,” Holloway says. Another is “very jumpy.” A third one won’t go into first gear, but it will go into third. “You have to know the cars and how they have different amounts of power, which means they drive differently.”

Those showy moves get an airing in the first episode of “Duster” and help set the tone for what creator J.J. Abrams wanted to do.

“J.J. had an image in his head from few years ago,” says co-creator LaToya Morgan. “It was a phone booth, a phone ringing in the middle of the desert and a muscle car racing up to it. And he said, ‘I think maybe Josh Holloway jumps out of that car.’”

Josh holloway — The scene that started it all: Josh Holloway speaks on a phone on a dusty Southwest road in "Duster."
Max

One idea led to another and soon, Holloway was added to the mix. “It’s just exciting to have anyone of that caliber, artistically, calling you for something,” Holloway says. “He proceeded to pitch me the show and every step of the way it just got better.”

Adding Hilson gave “Duster” a chance to talk about various political issues during the 1970s.

Rachel Hilson plays the first Black female in her FBI office in the 1970s in "Duster."
Max

“The ‘70s are such a rich period,” Hilson says. “1972, in particular, you’ve got a whole cornucopia of things happening politically and culturally. I was really excited to navigate this young Black woman in this period, in this environment, in the Bureau, which is so unheard of.”

Agents from the era served as consultants, telling Hilson what it was like for a character like hers.

From a cinematic perspective, “Duster” had plenty of predecessors. Morgan says. “The Godfather,” “Sugarland Express” and “Parallax View” served as inspirations. A movie buff, she had photos, too, and worked on getting both Holloway and Hilson the kind of style that was popular 50-some years ago.

Josh/Rachel Duster — Josh Holloway and Rachel Hilson join forces in "Duster."
Max

Hilson, as a result boasts a big Afro; Holloway gets the full Farrah Fawcett treatment.

While “Duster” takes creative liberties (the first Black female agent in the FBI didn’t appear until 1976), it does show how a woman joining a male-dominated department might have been treated.

“We didn’t want to whitewash it so there was no reaction,” Morgan says. “Of course, there would be a reaction if a Black woman is coming into the FBI when there were no other Black women. We wanted to honor that but also make sure we keep it entertaining. We see Nina (Hilson’s character) pushing through it because that’s the way it is, even today.”

“Duster,” an eight-episode series, airs on Max.