The star of a new Netflix series has revealed he was homeless at the start of his career (Picture: HBO)
He might be starring in one of the biggest shows on Netflix right now, but Taylor Kitsch has revealed he was ‘sleeping on the subway’ at the start of his career.
The Canadian actor is best known for his roles in Friday Night Lights, True Detective, The Terminal List and now American Primeval, which was released on Netflix this month.
However, after moving to New York in 2002 to pursue modelling and acting Taylor struggled to make ends meet and faced homelessness.
‘I was literally sleeping on the subway,’ the now 43-year-old told People this week.
Taylor had previously explained how he would take ‘a blue train from downtown all the way up to 182nd and at night they’d change, they’d take longer, A, C or E’.
But after meeting his talent manager, who he still works with over 20 years later, she ‘took a risk’ on him, which kickstarted his career.
Taylor Kitsch eventually got his start after being cast in Friday Night Lights (Picture: Bill Records/ NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
It was four years later that Taylor was cast on the sports drama series Friday Night Lights, on which he played high school football star Tim Riggins across all five seasons until it ended in 2011.
‘People, for some reason or another, just really gravitated to Riggins,’ he added when speaking to People.
‘It truly affected my life, and all for the better.’
The actor’s manager ‘took a risk’ on him (Picture: MediaPunch/ Shutterstock)
Taylor is now starring in the series American Primeval (Picture: Matt Kennedy/ Netflix)
Taylor went on to say that ‘all I ever wanted to do was disappear into different characters’ and he never had the desire to seek out ‘leading a show or being in the limelight or money’.
In his latest series, the actor plays Isaac, a traumatised man ‘struggling to overcome his demons’ in the six-part American Primeval.
The brutal Western series is set America in 1857 and ‘examines the fight to gain control of the American West and the sometimes violent clash between religion and culture’.
Since tuning in fans have called it ‘excellent,’ ‘compelling’ and ‘authentic, gritty and raw’.
American Primeval is streaming on Netflix.
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