Taylor Kitsch plays comic-book hero Gambit opposite Hugh Jackman in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
By Andrea Warner
Taylor Kitsch calls from a cellphone while sitting in the passenger seat of a car speeding through Los Angeles, on his way to look at motorcycles. The 28-year-old Kelowna-born actor is an easy conversationalist; his words come tumbling out in a steady stream that reflects his myriad influences: 19 years spent growing up in B.C., and 10 years trying to launch his acting career in the U.S., which finally paid off three years ago when he landed the role of bad-boy quarterback Tim Riggins on the cult TV drama Friday Night Lights. Kitschs voice is a hybrid of elongated Canadian vowels and a smattering of Americanisms a warm, friendly lilt often punctuated by a flurry of F-bombs.
Its this delicious combination that has solidified Kitschs sexy-rebel vibe, and made him the prime contender to go shoulder-to-shoulder with Hugh Jackman in the summers first potential blockbuster, the highly anticipated X-Men Origins: Wolverine (opening Friday, May 1).
Kitsch admits that a starring role in a big-budget film was the last thing on his mind when he was younger. He calls his upbringing stereotypically Canadian, with years spent playing hockey and chasing girls. But a passing interest in acting gave way to strangely geeky passion. I ****in loved public speaking a lot, Kitsch admits. I went to the divisional and to the regionals, like, three years in a row for these speeches basically just stories I made up.
Kitsch played semi-professional hockey for the Langley Hornets in the Canadian BCHL until he was 19, when a wrecked knee sidelined him permanently. His love for performance and his pretty face pushed him toward pursuing modelling in New York, where he was holed up in an agency-sanctioned apartment with nine other guys, all of them hoping for their big break. In between assignments for the likes of Diesel and Abercrombie & Fitch, he studied acting and surfed the poverty line.
I remember for my birthday my mum sent me, like, $200 so I could buy a futon, and that was, like, glorious, Kitsch recalls, laughing. I think a lot of people come here and wanna wake up and be an actor. But paying your dues puts so much into being a success, because you have an understanding, for the most part, of what its about. Living day-to-day on three dollars, or living in an apartment with no electricity for well over a couple of months those kinds of things shape a lot of who you are. It was a great experience, in retrospect. But I tell ya, I wouldnt do it again. ****.
Those years in squalour, and a streak of stubbornness, helped keep him focused on his acting goals.
I definitely knew what I didnt want, he says. To this day, I think if I was on a soap, Id ****in last an hour. Thats just a different type of acting, its a different art. I dont think Id be very good at that one bit.
Kitsch landed a bit part in the heavily hyped (and ultimately unsuccessful) Samuel L. Jackson thriller Snakes on a Plane and a few other feature films before joining Friday Night Lights. If there were five viewers for every critic who has hailed FNLs brilliance, Kitsch would already be a household name. Instead, hes been marked as the shows breakout star and an actor on the verge of being Hollywoods newest It boy something the boy himself cant help but laugh about. Ummm, yeah. Im on my way to buy three Lexuses, a mansion, a boat, and four other houses on an island, he jokes. Thats flattering, but you take it for what it is. Its nice to have people especially in this ****in business who are rooting for you.
Even fanboys a notoriously finicky group were blogging with happy-face emoticons when Kitsch landed the role of Gambit in Wolverine, and he does seem (pardon the pun) tailor-made for the part: a charming Cajun thief and ladies man who can throw a mean playing card and manipulate kinetic energy.
I knew X-Men and I knew of Gambit, but the more I learned about him, the more I wanted to play him, Kitsch says. Hes definitely a cool cat. And theres so much room to take him and discover so many things that are a part of him, too. Im really excited about it, and hopefully we can do a few of these.
Kitsch describes the film as pretty ****in bad-ass, and confesses that hed murder to play Gambit for the next 10 years, like Hugh did [with Wolverine].
X-Men Origins: Wolverine pulls in plenty of characters from the X-Men universe to detail Wolverines evolution from man to mutant. Jackman has played the tortured title character since the first X-Men movie in 2000, and Kitsch brings up the Aussie actors name frequently and enthusiastically during the course of our conversation. Hes clearly smitten (professionally speaking) with his colleague.
Working with Hugh, working off of him, is just a pleasure. We have really good chemistry on screen, and we have a lot of fun and give each other a hard time, Kitsch says, laughingly recalling the good-natured ribbing he and the other actors would give Jackman about being a triple threat with his Broadway career, his action-hero roles, and his leading-man status. Its so ridiculous. His toolbox mines, like, lunchbox big, and his is like a ****ing shed with a padlock. Hes just kind of an enigma, a rare breed.
One cant help but hear how Jackmans influence has already made its mark: Kitsch boasts a slight Australian affectation as he gushes about his friend, and his own good fortune.
I can tell you, I wouldnt want to be in this position five, seven years ago, Kitsch admits. Im glad its happening now, and hopefully into my early thirties and stuff, you know? I didnt have this kind of mindset eight years ago. And I think Hugh when you look at how he stays the person he is, and that he had such a great sense of self when he started, and he knew what he wanted. According to the X-Men crew, hes even more genuine than he was before, which is incredible.
Granted, I have not yet seen this thing, but I again express serious serious doubts that that was Gambit's plane.
*tears out hair*
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