Like MCJ and Cool G said: "No sex with my sister"

My column in Friday's Daily Courier ...

My sister's voice sounded crackly and distorted over the cell line as she called me from deep in South Carolina.
"Hey! I've got someone you have to talk to! He's from Kelowna," she shouted into the phone.
A gregarious, disarming voice came on the line and, without pause, proceeded to tell me how hot my sister was, how they made out all the time and how they were going to get married . . . all the while my sister is cackling in the background.
"You better not be, buddy," I said, seething. "I have a gun collection. A big one. And I know people. Bad people. So back off . . ."
He laughed and handed the phone back to my sister. It was my introduction to Taylor Kitsch, the second hottest team idol in America.
The 26-year-old is one of the stars on Friday Night Lights, NBC's hit miniseries based on the non-fiction book and movie of the same name. It surrounds story of the Permian High School Panthers, who made a run at the 1988 Texas state high school title.
Since moving to New York to pursue an acting and modelling career in 2002, the Kelowna-born Kitsch has been in movies like The Covenant, Snakes on a Plane, and John Tucker Must Die. But it's the 26-year-old's role on Friday Night Lights that has vaulted him to celebrity status.
And, with the local FNL season just around the corner, I figured it was an appropriate time to catch up with the Okanagan's hottest star. Well, apart from Evangeline Lily, that is.

Smoove: Where did you go to school in Kelowna?
TK: Glenmore elementary, right by the golf course. I remember walking through orchards to get to school. Life was a lot simpler back then. (Laughs).

Smoove: What's your best memory of the Okanagan? At least, the one that hasn't been erased by your hard-partying Hollywood lifestyle?
TK: I have so many memories of the Okanagan — from sledding on the golf course and selling golf balls out of egg cartons on the ninth hole with my bros, to just being out on the lake with the family, knee-boarding and tubing. And having Christmas dinner at the grandma's house with all the cousins is also such an amazing memory.

Smoove: Any plans to return at some point?
TK: I have definite plans to return. The next place I buy is gonna be on the lake. It's a dream of mine. I try to go back as much as possible. Even with all the growth and changes, it still feels great to come down the hill and see the bridge and the water.

Smoove: On FNL, you play the role of Tim Riggins, a sullen, morose, substance-abusing girlfriend stealer — obviously a character with many layers. But you didn't read the original book or watch the movie before you landed the role of Tim. Was that so you could put your own stamp on him?
TK: It was definitely a personal choice not to watch or read FNL before getting Riggs. I knew going into it I was going to be compared regardless to the movie, but if you think about it, and i just emulate his character, I probably would have been at a loss pretty quick, considering we get so much deeper into the lives of these guys on the show. I needed to create my own block to come off of. It just makes my choices a lot more concrete and more believable for me to play personally. At this point, it's the hair that gets compared more. (laughs).

Smoove: Hockey rules in Canada. How much did you know about football before getting the role?
TK: Hockey does rule in Canada — and rightfully so. I knew enough about football coming into it, but I tell ya what, I certainly have a newfound respect for these guys (on the show). The plays you see are everything but fake. We have some semi-pro and a few guys who played pro as well, so we dont eff around. My skills have definitely grown since being here.

Smoove: Are you an athlete who can act? Or an actor who is athletic?
TK: Can't I be both?

Smoove: I'm guessing you've had a chance to experience what it's like to watch a football game in the U.S. Towns like Dillon (the town where FNL is based) all over the States are obsessed with their teams, and practically shut down on Friday nights. Did this intensity surprise you?
TK: Coming into Texas, all I heard was chatter about how these small towns live and surround their lives around this game. It's one thing to hear about it's intensity, and it's simply another to be there and feeeel it from the fans and players. I just went to a UT (University of Texas) game. Ninety-thousand people . . . LIVE. You get chills, believe me. But ya, it's kinda a hard thing to really understand. It's truly an escape for most — including me, when I was there.

Smoove: FNL has become something of a national obsession with the American public, rated the second-best new show on television. Did you think the show would be embraced so completely and fanatically by the viewers?
TK: I don't know if we felt it would be so fanatically followed, but I can tell ya, after I saw the pilot and even when we got further into the season, I knew and felt we had something special. It truly is something I know I'll be able to look back on and be proud of. The topics of real life and how everyone can relate to something on this show, regardless socio-economic class, really does separate this show from so many others on television. (Especially that reality TV BS). I think that's why this show is as strong as it is, because all of us from the execs down believe in it as strongly as we all do playing these characters. (Laughs) I could go on forever . . .

Smoove: What's your best "I guess I AM a celebrity now" moment?
TK: My best "guess I am a celebrity" moment would have to be . . . Ummmmm . . . Ya, no, I don't actually have a defining moment. I don't go to clubs or out in H-Wood all the time, so there's no paparrazzi following me or any crap like that. Fan mail is more flattering than feeling like a celeb. I guess it would be just gettin recognized while you're out doing your own thing. But first class is always fun, though! (laughs).

Smoove: Did you start the Zac Efron DUI arrest rumour as payback for finishing second to him for male hottie in the Teen Choice Awards?
TK: (Laughs) What a mess. Naw, this is the first time I'm hearing of this. My subscription to "US Weekly" and "InTouch" must have just expired.

Smoove: Does your life, in any way, resemble "Entourage"? If so, and you were Vince, who would be Turtle?
TK: I don't watch Entourage, but I know enough of it that I try and make my life a little more simpler than theirs.

Smoove: If People Magazine were to start a rumour about you and a hollywood starlet, who would you like to be linked to most? (besides your co-star Minka Kelly, who your character hooked up with on the show)
TK: Who would I like to be linked with?! You know, I don't know. Being in those magazines or dealing with all that doesn't really turn my crank. I'll let the others play that role. I do like Sienna Miller, though. She seems fun. She was great in Factory Girl, as well.

Smoove: You just finished filming the movie "Gospel Hill" in South Carolina, home of everyone's favourite Youtube star, Lauren Caitlin Upton. Now tell me — why do you think that 40 per cent of Americans can't find the U.S. on a map?
13) Being Canadian, I don't really have a problem answering that question, BUT . . . I have to work down here, so I'm not touching that one man. (laughs). It can't be 40 (per cent), can it?

Smoove: Speaking of Minka (daughter of former Aerosmith lead guitarist Rich Dufay) are you, or have you ever been, an Aerosmith fan?
TK: Ya, I'm an Aerosmith fan.

Smoove: Last question! How does an aspiring actor from interior B.C. make it to the top without breast implants or making a sex tape with Tommy Lee?
TK: Who says I haven't made those tapes? (laughs). It sounds cliche, but I just never quit. I didn't wake up and decide to do this, like so many people do, and just go to Hollywood and hope it just happens. Life doesn't work that way — for me, anyways. I went through training in N.Y. and continue to study this gig. I know how fortunate I am to be here, and simply don't want to look back and have any regrets about not taking advantage of this dream that's unfolding in front of me. NO REGRETS.

- Friday Night Lights airs Friday nights on NBC starting Oct. 5. Gospel Hill is due for release in 2008.