Taylor Kitsch spoke about his work on HBO’s buzzed-about True Detective series during a Los Angeles County Museum of Art event this Thursday.
“I think the game has changed,” he said, speaking to Cameron Bailey, Toronto Film Festival’s artistic director.
“I’m loving where I’m at material-wise and where I’m at as an actor,” Kitsch said. “I’m back-to-back HBO … and if [True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto] calls and says. ‘Hey, I’m doing another thing with HBO,’ then it’ll be three.”
He remarked about how more actors are making the jump to prestige TV offerings, including fellow True Detective co-stars Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams. “Film scripts at that level are harder to find these days,” Kitsch said. “I want to be able to elevate myself to the material.”
In a series like True Detective, the TV format offers eight hours or more to tell a story. “You get to see a full spectrum,” Kitsch said. “In 90 minutes or two hours in a film, you do find yourself not forcing, but pushing certain beats that may not be honest emotionally.”
Along with the stories from HBO and True Detective, Kitsch spoke about returning to Canada for independent films like 2010’s The Bang Bang Club (“one of my proudest roles”). He also opened up about the start of his career, from “truly failing as a model — thank God” to being “literally homeless” and finding his incredibly diverse range of roles, from Friday Night Lights to Lone Survivor to The Normal Heart.
“I don’t want you to be able to pigeonhole me,” he said.
