Taylor Kitsch Reveals the Advice Oliver Stone Gave Him After 'Battleship' Sank

Taylor Kitsch hasn't had the greatest of luck with movies this year.

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John Carter, which opened March 9, made less than $73 million, while another big-budget film, Battleship, sunk in theaters with only $60.1 million since its May 18 bow.

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But Kitsch tells the new issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine that he found support in his Savages director, Oliver Stone, who e-mailed the former Friday Night Lights star after the Battleship fiasco offering his encouragement.

"With any job there is always going to be self-doubt that creeps in, but know that you are going to have a long career," Stone wrote to Kitsch.

Kitsch adds that Stone has "zero filter" in giving his opinion and praised him for being open to Kitsch's suggestion that his Savages character, a vet, be covered with scars.

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“Other directors would have been, ‘No, I want you to look good!’ ” he says. To his surprise, Stone agreed without hesitation.

The film -- about two pot growers whose mutual girlfriend is kidnapped by a Mexican cartel -- also stars Blake Lively, Aaron Johnson, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek and John Travolta.

Kitsch adds the cast of Savages rehearsed from 9 to 5 every day for two weeks in Los Angeles and that he was helped by his military training for Battleship, during which he worked with Navy SEALs.

Savages opens July 6.