Taylor Kitsch Biography

TAYLOR KITSCH

Date of Birth: April 8, 1981

Canadian actor Taylor Kitsch was born in Kelowna, British Columbia and was raised in Vancouver. He has two older brothers and two younger half sisters. He played hockey as a young child, and was intent on becoming a professional player. While on the Langley Hornets team in British Columbia, a knee injury ended his chance at a career. He was noticed by modeling scouts, and as a result moved to New York City in 2002 where he was signed to IMG Models. He modeled for popular clothing lines Diesel and Abercrombie & Fitch. He also worked as a personal trainer and nutritionist, and would later on, at age 25, become the youngest ever coverboy for Men's Health magazine.

In 2004, Kitsch moved to Los Angeles. He did some work with Nous Model Management before deciding less than a year later that he didn't want to live there anymore. He moved back to Vancouver, and in 2006 signed with Endeavor Entertainment. He made a couple of brief appearances in television shows before landing roles in major films such as John Tucker Must Die (2006), Snakes on a Plane (2006), The Covenant (2006) and Gospel Hill (2008). His big break came when he landed a regular role as troubled football star Tim Riggins on the Emmy-winning weekly drama Friday Night Lights. During hiatus from the show, he shot the major motion picture X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). He also starred in the highly-anticipated action film John Carter (2012), although it wasn't well received at the box office.

Nonetheless, Taylor powered on, landing roles in other major films such as Battleship (2012) based on the popular board game of the same name,the all-star cast of Oliver Stone's Savages (2012) and Peter Berg's film Lone Survivor(2014).

He also landed a starring role on a major television project: the second season of the hit HBO TV series True Detective series in 2015, alongside Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell.

Not long after, Taylor found himself working alongside Michael Keaton during the filming of the feature film American Assassin (2017), then joined Josh Brolin, Miles Teller and Jeff Bridges for the drama Only the Brave (2017), and worked with Chadwick Boseman on the suspense film 21 Bridges (2019).

Taylor actively encourages fitness activities for kids. In 2007 he participated in the Nautica Malibu Triathlon to benefit the Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and in 2008 he participated in Luc Robitaille's Celebrity Shoot Out, a hockey game to raise money and awareness for the children's charity Echoes of Hope.

When not filming, he makes his home in Vancouver.

Filmography

American Assassin (2017)
Only the Brave (2017)
The Grand Seduction (2014)
Lone Survivor (2014)
Savages (2012)
Battleship (2012)
John Carter (2012)
The Bang Bang Club (2011)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Gospel Hill (2008)
The Covenant (2006)
Snakes on a Plane (2006)
John Tucker Must Die (2006)