Kitsch plays bad guy with nuance
NEW YORK — Actor Taylor Kitsch bristles at the notion that the criminal he plays in the new police drama “21 Bridges” is a coldblooded killer.
He says he worked to find the “emotional beats” of his character, Ray, and tried to understand the reasons he might do some unsavory things.
That might be why director Brian Kirk and Chadwick Boseman, producer and star of the film, wanted Kitsch for the part.
“21 Bridges” is about a police detective (Boseman) leading a manhunt in New York City to find two suspects who planned to steal a haul of cocaine but stumble into a larger conspiracy and end up killing several cops.
The film, which also stars Stephan James and Sienna Miller, takes place over the course of one night, with plot twists, chase scenes and shootouts to satisfy action fans.
In an interview with
The Associated Press, Kitsch, 38, talked about finding the nuances in playing complicated characters, working with Boseman and what it would take to get him to go back to his “Friday Night Lights” character, Tim Riggins.
“There’s no way.”
AP: Ray and Stephan walk into a very scary situation, but Ray keeps his cool.
Kitsch: I know a lot of (Navy) SEALs. I’ve been
Dec. 8 birthdays: — Actor Taylor Kitsch, on his willingness to participate in a “Friday Night Lights” reboot
trained by them and a lot of special ops guys, and everything about them I admire. The beauty of those guys is their heart rate doesn’t go up. It really, honestly doesn’t in those moments . ... Ray is very, very similar . ... He’s just very calm, very directed as to what he has to do and carry out.
AP: How was working with Chadwick Boseman and how involved was he in his role as producer?
Kitsch: He had a good presence on set. We were working nights and, man, I’d be sleeping if I were him because you got to get it when you can. But he would come on his off days and be there with us and just support. The best producers are the ones that you don’t feel their presence so much on set. They facilitate and let you do your thing. And he’s great. You know, very gracious guy, listens really well on and off camera. He’s very humble and just a sweet guy.
AP: We are in an era of reboots. Any chance you’d reprise your role if there was a reboot of “Friday Night Lights?”
Kitsch: I know they’re making a movie, but I’m not going to be in that. There’s no way. If you want to give me $25 million I’ll do it, but that’s my price (Laughs). I pride myself on that moment. But I also want to create more new moments and keep growing, and I feel I’ve done that. It would be messing with a beautiful memory. And I’m such a different person, different actor. And I don’t even know if I could create that again, that innocence of Riggs and those moments. It was a special time, and you got to leave that.