- Waco, the 2018 Paramount Network miniseries, is now streaming on Netflix.
- In the miniseries, Friday Night Lights star Taylor Kitsch portrays cult leader David Koresh.
- Although he's had a rough few years in Hollywood, he truly shines in this performance.
I remember watching the miniseries Waco in 2018, back when it first premiered. The newly-formed Paramount Network put together a show that had elements of a real-life tragedy, religion, and political conversation. Within the first five minutes of the miniseries, viewers are introduced to David Koresh, one of the focal characters. With a gaunt appearance, a mullet once described as a “Kentucky waterfall,” and an affinity for reciting the Scripture from memory, it was almost impossible to recognize the man on the screen as none other than Taylor Kitsch. Although the role was clearly out of the actor’s previously-established element, Kitsch proved that despite a couple of road blocks, he knew how to tackle a man overlaid with complexities and mystery. The role finally helped him prove to audiences just how good an actor he was.
Kitsch, despite initial success as the brooding-yet-sexy Tim Riggins on Friday Night Lights (a series that grew a cult-like during it's initial run that's only increased since it's conclusion in 2011), has had a bit of a rough road navigating through in the industry. Destined to be the next “it actor” in the early 2010s, his biggest films in 2012—John Carter and Battleship—both massively flopped in the box office, with the former costing Disney nearly $200 million in losses. This led to Kitsch needing something of a reset—he needed to completely restructure how he was going to move in Hollywood.
Throughout the rest of the decade, Kitsch’s selection of roles showed off a range that hadn't been put on display before. He’s been a featured player in a major box-office hits in 2013’s Lone Survivor, while also trying out his newfound role as a character actor in 2017's American Assassin. He dipped his toe into the world of independent side of film, playing an arrogant small-town doctor in 2014’s The Grand Seduction. And that was all before he had a string of roles on HBO, playing a closeted gay activist in 2014's The Normal Heart and a mob-affiliated cop in the doomed second season of True Detective (a season that critics repeatedly called “a hot mess”).
Despite his career peaks and valleys, it’s the performance in Waco where he really shines. It’s the first time in years he held a leading role, and he dedicated his life in preparation, studying Scripture and guitar eight hours a day. It was so draining for Kitsch that it got to the point where he almost backed out of the miniseries entirely.
“I think I was in too deep,” he told Rolling Stone about his prep for the role. “You spend eight hours a day in this 1,000-square-foot apartment in Austin, playing guitar and reading about this tragedy every single day. It just started to really weigh on me. I had no outlet, and I was probably just scared shitless and panicked."
It's a good thing Kitsch managed to get over the initial fear. His innate ability to bring sincerity and charisma to a complex man who believed in unorthodox—and many times unethical—practices helped him create a unique character. His portrayal of Koresh gave viewers a look at a character who was quite different from the one painted by the media at the time.
“I remember driving up to the bar and seeing Taylor,” Michael Shannon told GQ in 2018 when asked about Kitsch's dedication to the role. “It was the first time I had seen him in costume all done up. He was finished with work and just walking down the side of the road. I was like, ‘Holy moly. He looks just like him.”
Koresh is a complete 180 from the more violent, villainous roles he's portrayed over the last few years. And while the story itself has a rather gruesome ending, it’s refreshing to see Kitsch prove that the hunches people have had through the years about his acting ability were actually well warranted.
With Waco, it’s clear the network knew what they were doing when they chose Kitsch to step into Koresh’s shoes. If he continues to take a measured approach to the roles he takes, it would seem that he’s bound to continue pushing the boundaries in Hollywood. He's going to give people a reason to pay closer attention.
