Why ‘The Terminal List: Dark Wolf’ Star Taylor Kitsch Keeps Choosing Roles That Terrify Him

Photo Source: Attila Szvacsek/Prime

Since breaking out on “Friday Night Lights,” Taylor Kitsch has made a habit of putting himself through the wringer, whether as a doomed cult leader in “Waco,” a struggling addict in “Painkiller,” or a haunted mountain man in “American Primeval.” “My therapist needs to dive deeper into that,” the actor jokes. “I don’t consider myself a dark guy, but I love the challenge, and it’s so scary to me.”

Continuing that arc is Prime Video’s “The Terminal List: Dark Wolf,” a prequel to “The Terminal List” that has Kitsch reprising his role of CIA operative and Navy SEAL Ben Edwards. On the original series, Ben assists his friend James Reece (Chris Pratt) in tracking down the people responsible for the deaths of his wife and daughter, concluding in a shocking twist. With “Dark Wolf,” premiering Aug. 27, Kitsch revives his character to give him his own spotlight.

Here, Kitsch talks about getting uncomfortable and facing his fears.

What originally attracted you to this character and world?

I really love this community. I’m still brothers with Marcus Luttrell from “Lone Survivor,” and I played Michael P. Murphy in that film. I’ve got his family coming to the “Dark Wolf” premiere. So it’s affected me, in a beautiful way. And then Pratt calls: “Do you want to play a beach bum Navy SEAL with a crazy twist at the end?” As an actor, to root [for] something like that twist was very tough, because how can I figure out how a SEAL would do this to one of his brothers? But we found a way. What’s fascinating with “Dark Wolf” is, for a Navy SEAL: Strip their team from them, and who are they?

How was the experience of taking a character from being the sidekick to the lead?

Ben is not as heavy in the [“Terminal List”] books, so we had more creative freedom. Sometimes we’d be on set and I’d be like, “This is great, but what if we Ben-ify this moment? Like, what would Ben do on the subway if someone wants to get in a knife fight?” And then it’s a fun conversation of like, “This is what I would do,” and then someone would be like, “Ben is a little more violent than that, and he doesn’t give a fuck if he’s on camera, so he’d probably pull out a pistol in broad daylight and shoot this guy in the head and walk off the subway.” So that’s what we did!

Credit: Attila Szvacsek/Prime

You’ve constantly put yourself in some really dark roles and worlds. Are you drawn to throwing yourself into grueling situations?

“Painkiller” was something that I wanted to serve because addiction is so close to my family. And then “American Primeval” was my “Braveheart” and a dream role. So I think you’re chasing great material. Even this next movie that I’m doing, “Eleven Days,” I’m scared shitless. Now’s not the fucking time to be safe. I think everyone wants to wake up with purpose. It’s this endless question of, why am I here? What am I serving? So when I get to these moments of taking these roles, I’m like, fuck, you’re going to be super uncomfortable—you’re probably going to try and get out of the movie a month before, which has happened. On “Waco,” that was six of months prep, and we were a month out from filming and I was losing my fucking mind, and I was like, “Get me off this show.” Obviously I’m beyond proud of what we did, but it takes a toll on you.

You lived a lot of lives before becoming an actor, but were you always a performer at heart?

I was a cocky bastard, thinking I was going to play pro hockey. And then I was cleaning shitters at a lake. Then I was weed-whacking ditches. But I was an extra at 14 in Vancouver, and when I moved to New York and started studying acting, I thought I knew a lot when I really knew nothing. My acting coach, Sheila Gray, kicked me out of class because I was so cocky.… I would tell that guy to take a breath, put your ego away for 10 seconds, and listen.

What was the moment that sent you on the path to figuring yourself out as an actor?

It was [Gray] telling me, “You don’t know fucking anything.” [Laughs] I remember shooting “Only the Brave,” and I’m sitting there with Jeff Bridges and Josh Brolin, and Jeff fucking Bridges says, “As an actor, you’re always thinking you’re going to be found out, or one day the phone will stop ringing.” So it’s a fear-based job, and fear keeps you straight. I think you’re still always evolving, and I’m beyond proud of my career, so I just want to keep swinging.