Editor’s note: The below interview contains spoilers for Duster Episode 4. Four weeks in, HBO Max’s crime thriller series Duster, from co-creators J. J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan, is still taking viewers for a wild ride. It doesn’t seem like things are going to be getting any calmer for getaway driver Jim Ellis, played by Josh Holloway, who’s recently found himself up to his neck in trouble with at least one angry mob boss from over the border. In the series’ latest episode, Jim is tasked with delivering an important package for his boss, Arizona mob boss Ezra Saxton (Keith David), but also has to exercise some quick thinking when an assassin shows up to off him for reneging on his deal to start driving for “Mad Raoul” (Robby Ramos). Meanwhile, rookie FBI agent Nina Hayes (Rachel Hilson) and her partner, Awan Bitsui (Asivak Koostachin), initially think they’ve hit a literal dead end with the loss of Leland Breen (Michael Bryan French), but their efforts ultimately take them to the one place that Awan would prefer not to go back to. Ahead of the episode’s premiere, Collider had the opportunity to speak with Koostachin about his character’s most pivotal moments this week on Duster. Over the course of the interview, which you can read below, the actor discusses his surprising road to joining the HBO Max series, his favorite part of filming a show set in the ’70s, and how his offscreen dynamic with Hilson informed their characters’ onscreen partnership. He also delves into the significance of that big Awan backstory reveal in this week’s episode, whether Awan has ever considered reconciling one of his most strained relationships, and more. COLLIDER: I would love to hear about your journey to becoming part of this show. What was your road to Duster specifically? ASIVAK KOOSTACHIN: There are two parts to this story. The first part is the normal route to getting roles. I had auditions, I have my agent, I’d be doing them. One week, I was really busy with auditions and work, and a lot of things, and this show came up. It was called Sandy at the time, and I didn’t have the time to do it. I was just going to skip it. Something fell through last minute on my schedule, and I was able to do it really quickly. I just wrote it down on a piece of paper, asked one of my roommates, who’s never done reading before, never been behind the camera, to read for me. She’s from Ireland; she had a thick accent. I wrote it down — I didn’t eat anything, so I grabbed some food and was eating while doing this audition. I held the paper up while recording and read off the paper, but memorized it just in two or three minutes beforehand, so I had a general idea of what was going on, and I just did the audition in two takes. My roommate was excellent as a reader, and it just kind of came out naturally and flowed out, and I submitted it. Two months later, I’d completely forgotten about the audition, and my agent called and told me I got the role, and I was like, “What role?” She told me, and apparently, they loved the audition. They hired me from just that first audition. No callbacks, no meetings, or anything. It’s just amazing. I’m assuming they saw something, maybe an essence of the character they were looking for, and then hired me. Duster has such a great sense of place and style. What is your favorite part of being in that ‘70s world? Do you have a favorite part of getting to immerse yourself in that atmosphere? KOOSTACHIN: There are so many good things about the ‘70s. I really enjoyed the analog of it. In the cars, you had that dial to turn the radio on or roll down the window with your hand, not a button. Everything was cool at that time, too. It just felt really tactile. That’s how I interact with the world, so that felt really good. Like at the FBI station, the recording machines and pressing those buttons. That was my favorite, how I was interacting with the world around me — including the clothes, of course, and how they felt on my body, and seeing everyone else. But the interaction was my favorite part. The analog was my favorite part of the ‘70s.
Asivak Koostachin Discusses Awan and Nina’s “Unstoppable” Partnership in ‘Duster’

“He has a partner and someone to support him, and that’s kind of all you really need in the end…”

Image via HBO Max

When we first meet Awan in the show, it’s pretty clear from the beginning that he has been on the outside looking in, in terms of the social aspect of the field office. Did you have to establish anything for yourself about what the status quo has been like for him, working in this office, before he meets Nina? KOOSTACHIN: That one’s layered. There’s a lot going into it. There’s obviously the racism of the times. He’s also a young agent and Navajo. The Navajo reservation is right beside Phoenix, really close by, so I’m sure, culturally, there’s a lot of tension there as well. Awan is going into an environment that is not supportive of him, and who he is and where he comes from. Feeling those feelings and those things in the office is palpable for me as an actor. Stepping into it, I understand. I get it, and it’s frustrating. It’s unjust. It sucks. It’s lame. It is what it is. But also, those things that Awan has to face, and people like him, are not enough to stop what he really cares about. That’s really encouraging to feel, from my own lived experience and in stepping into Awan’s cowboy boots, is that the passion and love for what you have inside can’t be stopped, despite what you face. So, yeah, it’s shitty what he had to experience in the environment that he’s in, but it’s nothing compared to the love and care he has. Then, when Nina arrives, they become unstoppable with each other. There are still obstacles and resistance, but that’s always going to be there in different ways. But he has a partner and someone to support him, and that’s kind of all you really need in the end — in life, in the FBI, whatever it is.

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One of my favorite early details about Awan is the reveal of that Superman wallet that he carries around. Is there anything that you personally are a bit nerdy about to the same extent? Are you also a Superman fan? KOOSTACHIN: I’m definitely a nerd. I’ve been to many fan expos, Comic-Con, stuff like that, and comic book stores. I love all that stuff. For me, it was Spider-Man as a kid. I remember every day in elementary school, I went to a Catholic school, and when we were doing prayer, I would pray that I would become Spider-Man. [Laughs] I remember that. I really, really liked Spider-Man and superheroes and nerdy stuff. So, when LaToya [Morgan] told me about Awan’s love for comics and superheroes and Superman, it was like, “Oh, yeah, I could do this. I got this. I get it!” In the first three episodes, we’ve gotten a bit more of Nina opening up to Awan about her personal motivations for getting involved with the Saxton case and what’s really driving her. With Episode 4, Awan begins opening up to her, and their partnership deepens even more. What did you enjoy about getting to build their relationship alongside Rachel [Hilson] as the season progresses? KOOSTACHIN: There were many things I enjoyed about it. Obviously, I really liked the parallels between me and Rachel and Awan and Nina. We’re both partners, literally in the show, and as actors trying to figure this out, stepping literally into an FBI office, both on screen and off. That was really nice, those two parallels, and getting to develop our relationship both as people and as actors and characters. The moment I met Rachel, I felt safe and felt good, which is really important for me, and she shared similar things about me. Just off the bat, it felt right. From there, we also had open conversations about how we felt, maybe the fears we felt about stepping into this world of TV in a big way, and also maybe things we didn’t know that we shared with each other, or things we did, and covered each other’s blind spots. It was incredibly enjoyable. It felt really good. Even in the unknowns, because me and Rachel click so well, we were able to navigate that together when we did spend time with our characters and our place as actors within this big TV show. It was enjoyable, and I wish it upon everybody who is in similar situations with other actors. The bar is set high, for sure, moving forward for me. It was lovely.
Asivak Koostachin Talks the Importance of That Backstory Reveal in ‘Duster’ Episode 4

“To be able to share it for Awan was difficult and also pivotal…”

Image via HBO Max

This week, there’s a big backstory reveal for Awan because, by virtue of the Saxton investigation carrying them in a specific direction, they end up going to the reservation. For one thing, Awan doesn’t want to go back. It’s through the writing that we learn his backstory, where we understand that he has always felt like he’s caught between two very different worlds. How does something like that help you, as the actor, develop a deeper understanding of this character that you’re playing? KOOSTACHIN: I have similar lived experiences, as Asivak. When I learned about Awan’s backstory in that episode, I was able to draw from my own lived experiences and also people that I know who have similar lived experiences. I have to give a shoutout to casting. Casting is such an important thing for so many reasons. I know how sensitive that content is. I know how important it is. I also know how invisible it can be sometimes. To be able to share it for Awan was difficult and also pivotal, for sure, having someone he can trust and talk to about those kinds of things. It’s so layered, that topic, for myself and Awan, but having a space to even reconcile that is really important. That we got to talk about it on a TV show that’s nationwide, that we’re able to talk about it professionally, is just really special. At the end of the episode, Nina mentions that maybe the time might be right at some point in the future for Awan to repair that old wound with his father. Do you feel like there is a part of Awan that might be coming around to the idea of reconnecting with his dad, or is he still a bit reluctant to cross that gap? KOOSTACHIN: I’m going to assume he’s on a fence, on a tightrope, where he can go in any direction, and both are scary. To deny and push it down and live with that feeling, or to embrace it and face that fear — both are hard choices. I can assume that, especially if his relationship with Nina keeps going well, he’ll have an opportunity to talk about it more and then perhaps gather the courage to make that step to reconcile with his father and family in that way. I think it really comes down to a lot of things, but his support network…. for Awan, a lot of his support network was cut off with his family, and so who does he have left? The people he knows in Phoenix, his coworkers. With the racism of the time, I’m sure that the availability of support is probably not that big. So, it really comes down to: who’s got his back, and is he supported to make those hard choices?