Taylor Kitsch Opens Up To R29 About The Women In His Life

The Women Who Made Me is a Refinery29 UK series in which we ask some of our favourite men in the public eye about the women they grew up with, the women who shaped them, and the women who continue to inspire them.

Here we chat with Taylor Kitsch, the actor who shot to worldwide fame playing footballer Tim Riggins in Friday Night Lights. He is currently starring alongside Josh Brolin and Miles Teller in Only The Brave.

What is your mother's best quality?
It would have to be patience, and that she let me and my two older brothers go early, which has to be one of the hardest things as a mother. We all left the house at around 15 to go play or pursue our dreams.

What do you call your grandmothers and what is your relationship with them?
Unfortunately my last grandmother passed. One was Nana, one was Grandma. They were both rock stars. When I think of Grandma, waffles comes to mind. I would go there as a young boy and she would have waffles already made and she’d keep them in the oven. And she lived by herself until she was 97 or 98.

Who was the first girl you kissed?
That would be Christina Holmes. I was camping in Osoyoos in British Columbia, and she was my first French kiss. Boom! I was 28 actually... [laughs].

When did a woman last make you cry?
I’d say last year...

Of all the women in your life, whose style do you most admire and why?
Shit, I don’t know the answer to that one! I mean, my grandmother had awesome style: sweet tracksuits in really colourful satin.

What is your favourite piece of art by a woman?
Actually my mother would paint before she had us and I had no idea. We had these paintings in our house growing up; one was a fisherman in a little rowboat and I loved it. I never knew it was her until I was 12 or 13, so that was cool.

Are you envious of women?
I am. Of their patience, their work ethic and most of them are just way more organised. So if I were to steal some of those attributes, those would be the ones.

Who's your best platonic female friend?
I don’t have many platonic female friends! Man, I don’t know, that’s a good question. My brother’s wife, she's cool.

How did you get on with Jennifer Connelly in Only The Brave? She was one of the only female actresses among a cast of men.
She’s awesome, she’s really funny and gets that dry humour that Josh Brolin slings all day. And she's unreal in the movie. To be in a movie with 22 guys, that is very male-driven, she came in there and was just incredible.

Which one woman do you most admire?
My mum for sure; she’s been through hell and back.

What is the most important lesson that a woman has taught you?
Probably to be a bit more compassionate, especially in relationships. That would probably be the biggest one.

Only The Brave is in UK cinemas from Friday 10th November.