TAYLOR KITSCH

(Born 8 April 1981). Kitsch was born in Kelowna, British Columbia. He has two older brothers and two younger half sisters. Originally set to become a professional hockey player, he played for the Langley Hornets in the Canadian BCHL before a bad knee injury ended his career. He moved to New York in 2002 after receiving an opportunity to pursue modeling with IMG and studied acting there as well. After two years, he signed with production company, Untitled Entertainment. While staying in New York, Kitsch also became certified as a nutritionist and personal trainer. Kitsch has modeled for Diesel and Abercrombie & Fitch.

Kitsch currently stars in the NBC series Friday Night Lights as football player Tim Riggins. He played Pogue Parry in The Covenant alongside Steven Strait, Sebastian Stan, Laura Ramsey, Toby Hemingway, Jessica Lucas and Chace Crawford.

In February 2008, he signed on to play Gambit in the X-Men franchise spinoff X-Men Origins: Wolverine," released May 2009. It received a May 2009 release. Of the fan-favorite character of Gambit, Kitsch states, "I knew of him, but I didn't know the following he had. I'm sure I'm still going to be exposed to that. I love the character, I love the powers, and I love what they did with him. I didn't know that much, but in my experience, it was a blessing to go in and create my take on him. I'm excited for it, to say the least."

In 2009, Kitsch signed up for Steven Silver's The Bang Bang Club alongside Ryan Phillipe and Malin Akerman, set in South Africa and documenting the final bloody days of the apartheid. As of June 2009, Kitsch was to play the title role in the film John Carter of Mars, alongside his [X-Men Origins: Wolverine] co-star Lynn Collins. The film was released in 2012.

When Kitsch first moved to New York to become an actor he was a homeless illegal alien with no prospects. During a particularly dark period, he wound up sleeping on the subway. Along with the rest of the down-on-their-luck street dwellers he'd get on the E train at night and curl up in one of the bucket seats while it made its endless loop around the city. Kitsch is going to need that gritty determination and self-reliance in the coming years, too, but he doesn't seem phased. In fact, he's about to get his first tattoo, a reminder of the mantra that got him here. "Riggs says 'no regrets' and that's from me, that's improv," the actor explains. "It's my motto, too. Tomorrow I'm getting a tattoo in Swahili that means to live life with no regret. - Nylon Magazine