Taylor Kitsch in John Carter
Taylor Kitsch is set to see his star rocket this week as he takes on the role of John Carter in the big screen adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' popular work.
The movie teams the actor up with Oscar winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton - this is the actor's biggest role to date; not to mention Stanton's first ever live action movie.
While Kitsch has had early movie roles in the likes of John Tucker Must Die and Snakes on a Plane it is TV series Friday Night Lights where he really established himself.
The actor took on the role of Tom Riggins in the football drama, a role he played for four seasons.
The series was adapted by Peter Berg, Brian Grazer and David Nevins from the film and the book of the same name.
And it is with this series that Kitsch really got himself noticed - it wasn't long before Hollywood really came knocking.
In 2009 the actor landed the role of Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it was the first time that the character had been seen in the X-Men franchise.
Gambit is a favourite amongst the Marvel/X-Men fans and it was the biggest role of Kitsch's career so far.
The movie saw him team up with Hugh Jackman, who was reprising the role of Logan, while Liev Schreiber and Danny Huston were also on the cast list.
The movie grossed in excess of $373 million at the global box office. A second Wolverine movie is in the pipeline but it has not been revealed whether or not we will be seeing Gambit once again.
He went from big budget blockbuster to hard hitting drama with his next movie The Bang Bang Club, which was based on the true story of four photo-journalists who worked in South Africa during the troubles of the early nineties.
Kitsch played Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Kevin Carter, who won the award for his work in South Africa at that time.
It was a great role of Kitsch as he really conveyed the struggle of Carter as he had to come to terns with what he saw while he was there working.
The actor is back on the big screen this week for the first time since The Bang Bang Club as he returns to the big budget blockbuster.
This is his first major lead role in a movie and John Carter is the first event movie of 2012.
John Carter is not only an action role for the actor but he is also a conflicted man as he struggles to deal with events from the past.
A second script is already being worked so don't be surprised if we see Kitsch reprising this role.
And 2012 will be a busy year for the actor as he is also set to star in Battleship, based on the popular board game.
He leads an all star cast that includes Liam Neeson, Alexander Skarsgård, Brooklyn Decker and Rihanna.
Kitsch has also completed work on Savages, a crime thriller, which is directed by Oliver Stone and will be in cinemas in the autumn.
John Carter is released 9th March
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw