TAYLOR KITSCH IS NOT PLAYING BY THE RULES

THE FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS ALUM IS CARVING HIS OWN PATH IN HOLLYWOOD EVEN AS HE ROOTS HIMSELF IN MONTANA

- By BRIANNE TRACY

When Taylor Kitsch was visiting family and friends in Vancouver over the holidays, a group of college kids recognized him at a local bar. “They wanted to have 28 shots with me because they just watched Friday Night Lights on the plane or something,” he says with a laugh. “People, for some reason or another, just really gravitated to Riggins.”

The beloved bad boy character might be the role Kitsch, 43, is approached about most, but since FNL ended its five-season run in 2011, he’s fought hard to stretch his acting muscles beyond the football field, playing roles as varied as a California Highway Patrol officer and veteran in the sophomore season of True Detective in 2015 and cult leader David Koresh in Paramount Network’s 2018 show Waco.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked to play a football player or a Texas guy,” he says. “I want to keep taking big risks.” His latest leap of faith is with Netflix’s raw new western American Primeval (debuting Jan. 9), on which he stars as the mysterious Isaac. The show is his fifth project with FNL director Peter Berg. “When Pete calls, he’s like, ‘All right, man, you want a challenge? Here you go.’ ”