Television star
Taylor Kitsch, known most for his work on the NBC football drama
Friday Night Lights, has signed on to appear alongside award-winning Aussie actor Hugh Jackman on the upcoming superhero movie,
X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Although there has been no official confirmation from the studios yet, several online sources are reporting that Kitsch has been cast in the role of Gambit, a mutant who has the ability to manipulate kinetic energy, and is known for his card-throwing skills.
Your Take
onyxcorp said:
Gambit is my favorite X Man character but they should have gotten Josh Holloway from Lost.
BuddyD said:
Awesome news. Gambit is a pretty cool character, and Kitsch is great.
tvgeek said:
This is great news. I love Taylor Kitsch and not just because he is cute. He is a really great actor and hi...
Also slated to appear in the film are actors Ryan Reynolds (
Two Guys and a Girl), Liev Schreiber (
CSI: Las Vegas) Danny Huston and Lynn Collins, and the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am. Schreiber and Huston will appear in the film as Sabretooth and William Stryker, respectively, while Collins will play Silver Fox.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which will serve as a prequel to the previously released trilogy, begins filming in Australia this month. South African director Gavin Hood is taking the director's seat, with the film's release scheduled for May 1, 2009.
This is not the first film project Taylor Kitsch has been involved with. His previous movie credits include
The Covenant, Snakes on a Plane and
John Tucker Must Die.
While it seems Kitsch's film career is ready to take off, word is still out on the future of
Friday Night Lights, in which the 26-year-old actor appears as Tim Riggins. The strike forced the series to halt production on the final seven episodes of the season, and NBC has yet to decide if it'll bring back the show now that the walkout has ended.
"I don't know as far as the writer's strike goes, but as far as the show goes, we won't know for a while how it affects," Taylor Kitsch's costar,
Kyle Chandler, said.
Despite the uncertainty, other
Friday Night Lights cast members are optimistic that they'll be back on the set soon.
"We're all ready to come back and everybody is kind of hanging, saying 'lets go back to Austin [where the show is filmed]' and there's a couple of us here and the rest of us can't wait to come back," Brad Leland, who plays Buddy Garrity on the series, said. "So hopefully in the next few weeks we'll be back.”
-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: E! Online, News 8 Austin
(Image Courtesy of NBC)