Taylor Kitsch traded supernova hopes for the quiet work of character depth, embracing a life in the wild and returning to screens with The Terminal List: Dark Wolf

22 August 2025

Lost action hero, Taylor Kitsch with Chris Pratt in The Terminal List: Dark Wolf. Photograph: Justin Lubin/Prime

Taylor Kitsch has spent more time observing wildlife in Montana than basking in the glare of Hollywood; his first return to set after years of cultivating a grounded life came with The Terminal List: Dark Wolf, a prime-time platform that aligns with his evolving sensibility. Once positioned as a blockbuster leading man, Kitsch’s star fell following the infamous box office failure of John Carter, a film built on the 264-million-dollar ambition of making him a franchise titan. The flop left him disillusioned, in part because he felt “like a small cog” in a studio machine that ultimately broke under its own weight. Since then he’s rebuilt on his own terms, in the quiet drama of humanity, emotional truth, and personal purpose.

Sitting in a New York press junket, his voice carries the understated echo of a man who’d rather be “chasing animals with my camera than going to clubs or Hollywood parties.” It’s fitting when you consider how he reprised his role as Ben Edwards this time in Dark Wolf, a mystery thriller prequel to The Terminal List that blends its gun‑heavy action with subtle reckonings on warfare’s human cost.

From his Texas-Canadian accent, Kitsch reflects on his early rise: from modeling to embodying the brooding Tim Riggins on Friday Night Lights, then playing Gambit and reaching the peak of announcement as a star “about to turn supernova.” But when John Carter crashed, audiences and headlines painted a different narrative one of commercial failure and unfulfilled promise. Rather than chase another fleeting high, Kitsch escaped Hollywood to Montana.

His transformation into a thoughtful actor is best illustrated through roles that demanded emotional depth. In True Detective, he played a restrained police officer; as cult leader David Koresh in Waco, he stepped into deeply complex historical territory. But it was Netflix’s Painkiller, in which he portrayed someone battling opioid addiction, that reached the core. Kitsch’s own family's struggles with addiction made the performance raw and urgent; he even leaned on his sister’s experience to fuel authenticity. From that pain, he built something tangible Howlers Ridge, a nonprofit helping veterans and trauma survivors.

Now, with Dark Wolf, Kitsch aligns with a story rooted in wartime morality and unseen conspiracies. As Ben Edwards, he explores espionage with nuance, standing alongside Chris Pratt yet never eclipsed by star power. Kitsch radiates quiet confidence not the explosive kind of blockbuster, but controlling his narrative and presence.

Looking back, he sees John Carter not as a personal failure, but as a lesson. “You gave it the best you could. I’m proud of the way I led that shoot,” he says, noting how deeply affected he was by the outcome. The film’s comparison to Avatar and weak marketing overshadowed its merits, and the resulting failure cast a long shadow. Instead of fighting to reclaim cinematic stardom, he set out to refocus on work, on quiet intensity, and on roles that pushed him rather than let fame define him.

Today’s Kitsch isn’t chasing the spotlight. He chooses roles that ask more of him: morally fraught, emotionally charged, quietly heroic. He opts for storytelling over spectacle, empathy over image. His life among animals in Montana and his choice of grounded characters suggest a man at peace with who he is and where he’s headed. The Terminal List: Dark Wolf arrives on Prime Video August 27; a new chapter for Kitsch, one defined not by a fleeting supernova, but by a steady, resilient flame.