Josh Holloway is no stranger to sci-fi action TV shows. He starred on ABC’s mega-hit Lost for six seasons, and he’s about to debut the second season of his current USA Network hit Colony. But according to Holloway, Lost’s Sawyer and Colony’s Will are two completely different roles.
“On Lost, as a character, he went on a journey basically from the darkness into the light,” Holloway told Nerdist on the set of Colony back in October. “With this character, he is a stand up guy. He comes from a good place, he has a code of honor, he has a family and is a family man. Because of the situation and trying to recover his lost child and so forth, he’s forced to go from the light into the darkness. Whereas Sawyer grew and evolved to be a better human, this character is a good guy who is being tainted by the darkness. It’s not making him an evil person but it is definitely compromising his character.”
Holloway was psyched to get to play such a polar opposite to Sawyer on Colony.
“That is fun to play. I like playing things that are on the line, not black and white but right down the middle,” Holloway said. “This show really plays with perspectives of what is good, what is bad, who is a terrorist, who is a freedom fighter? When does a terrorist become a freedom fighter? It depends on your perspective. Like Lost did a lot of jumping around of perspectives, it’s a show that does that. And working with Carlton [Cuse] again in his type of storytelling, it’s big storytelling and the world unfolds. It’s a patient unveiling of the story that the audience takes the ride with the characters. You know what we know. It unfolds in that way and gets bigger and bigger.”
When asked if he watched himself on Colony when it aired back in season one and if he’ll watch season two, Holloway laughed.
“I watch it,” Holloway said. “But I only watch them once when they air on game night. That’s pretty much it. Same with everything. I only watch it once. I can’t watch myself twice, it’s boring as hell. I’ve seen all of Lost only once, except for the pilot that they shove down your throat, like 35 times they played that damn thing.”
Colony is set in the not-too-distant future, when Los Angeles has been invaded and occupied by outside forces, causing a rift between the city’s residents. Some have collaborated with the occupation, while others are rebelling and suffering the consequences that come with that choice. Former FBI agent Will (Holloway) and his wife Katie (Sarah Wayne Callies) try to juggle protecting their family with doing what is right, and their respective decisions ended up tearing their relationship apart. When season two of Colony picks up, both Holloway and Callies promise that viewers will get satisfying payoff to all the stories left in the air by the season one finale.
“Will was heading to the other side of the wall,” Holloway said. “My storyline picks up on that side of the wall. This is a part of the world we haven’t seen, it’s only been talked about. Now you see Santa Monica block and what that is and what that environment is. It’s very different. It’s darker. There’s a two week time jump. It’s not a lot.”
“It’s enough time for things to have gotten worse,” Callies said with a laugh.
Will and Katie ended up on opposite sides of the rebellion by the end of season one, ironically all in the name of saving their family.
“Will and Kate have some damage to repair from season one,” Holloway said. “On this journey, they’re rebuilding their trust in season two. But they are parents and when you’re a parent, you’re a parent first before your relationship. Our issues go one step behind the immediacy of our family and what we have to do.”
According to Callies, the progression and evolution — for better or for worse — of the family at the center of the series is her favorite part of the story apart from the sci-fi elements.
“We started on the image of a family more or less intact with one missing element,” Callies said. “And we ended on an image of a family completely scattered to the wind. That sense of not being able to get one another back physically, emotionally, psychologically, that pervades the season. For Katie, there’s this tremendous sense of being bereft and feeling responsible for everything. She feels responsible for the aliens at this point. She’s just done her head in.”
And cast member Tory Kittles, who plays Resistance leader Broussard, revealed one of the most exciting teases about season two: viewers are going to get to see the characters before the alien invasion!
“We go back in time, prior to the arrival [this season],” Kittles said. “You’re going to get a glimpse of what these people were like before that ever happened. In Broussard’s case, you’ll find out a little bit of why he is the way he is, why he’s such a ruthless nice guy. Then we catch up with the events of last season and that’s going to rear its head as the season goes on.”
What are you most excited to see from Colony season two? Tweet me your thoughts and opinions at @SydneyBucksbaum!
Images: USA Network
Colony season two premieres Thursday, Jan. 12 at 10 p.m. on USA Network.
