Taylor Kitsch Unpacks the Anger and Redemption in His ‘Terminal List: Dark Wolf’ Origin Story

[This story contains spoilers from Terminal List season one, and the premiere of Terminal List: Dark Wolf.]

Temperatures can get sweltering in Mosul, Iraq. But in the Middle Eastern city during 2015, it was the uncomfortable sting of violence and death that touched a nerve, changing the trajectory for a group who swore an oath to the country they represent.

This is where Prime Video’s Terminal List: Dark Wolf prequel series opens, revealing unspeakable horrors that might even shake a career Navy SEAL officer to his core, such as Chief Ben Edwards played by Taylor Kitsch. The first three episodes of Dark Wolf that are now streaming wasted no time in showing how the madness of war can knock some soldiers off their path. Dark Wolf provides the origin story of what pushed Edwards and his loyal friend, Lt. Raife Hastings (Tom Hopper), into an even more chaotic world of pain and violence, but seemingly without any clear rules of engagement. Dark Wolf begins five years prior to the events of Prime’s hit military/covert operations series Terminal List that aired in in 2022 and starred Chris Pratt as Navy SEAL commander James Reece.

Terminal List season one ended with Edwards being revealed to have been behind the assassination plot of the group’s former Navy SEALs platoon. Edwards was the final name on Reece’s “terminal list,” marking the end of a tour of vengeance, also for the deaths of Reece’s wife and daughter. Pratt appears in Dark Wolf, and creator/showrunner David DiGilio hopes that Dark Wolf will have its own multi-season run alongside The Terminal List, as they connect more of the Carr universe.

The Hollywood Reporter recently caught up with Dark Wolf’s star to discuss how unforeseen events  changed his character’s view of how he sees the world, how that plays into tearing apart a lifelong brotherhood and how his personal quest to give back to veterans and others who have been victimized people led him to forming a nonprofit retreat on his own Montana ranch right next to Yellowstone.

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You are an outdoorsman who enjoys nature, physical activity and adventure. But what did you have to do to prepare yourself to tell the origin story of Chief Ben Edwards, disgraced Navy SEAL turned CIA black ops operative?

Oh, man! The biggest thing was the twist at the end of season one. My biggest obstacle was trying to root [for him] and understand how somebody could do that. In regard to training, I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve had the same Navy SEAL train me from Lone Survivor to True Detective, onto this show. His name Ray Mendoza. Ray has been with me for 12 years off and on. He just directed Warfare, amazing guy. They are always giving me refreshers, but it’s fun because Dark Wolf goes into espionage, and we’re all over the world. To learn those kinds of fights, not just in the deserts and mountains, but in cities and subways; we’re having gunfights in tunnels. That was fascinating to learn how these special operators would function downtown in a market or train station.

When I interviewed Wendell Pierce about the Jack Ryan series, he told me he had a CIA operative who served as his advisor. Did you have someone similar for Dark Wolf?

We definitely have a couple guys that are dark, in ground branch and whatnot, that you can lean on. Not to give too much away, but Ben is more rogue than CIA. He’s just pumped he doesn’t have rules of engagement, put it that way.

After the end of season one of The Terminal List, how long after did you and Chris Pratt know that you were going to be doing the origin story of Edwards?

The fans decided it! The numbers and the feedback we got. Four months, maybe? And then we started. Pratt and [author Jack] Carr and [creator David] DiGilio called and were like, “Hey man, would you be up for doing your own show? Let’s see why Ben did what he did and learn a lot more about him.” Of course I was game. I love playing this guy, he’s a lot of fun.

You seem to be chameleon-like in your roles, like recently with antihero Isaac in the bloody western American Primeval for Netflix. What techniques help you to melt into your roles so seamlessly, and become invisible to the character?

I don’t know. I think when I played David Koresh [in the miniseries Waco], that was six months of preparation. That taught me a lot about myself and my process. I love chasing roles where you get to disappear and change your body, your cadence, your look. So I don’t know if there’s a secret, it’s just a fuck ton of work. But I enjoy it, I love the craft! 

Edwards seems loyal to a fault to his Iraqi-born sergeant and family during the first episode of Dark Wolf. He loses faith in his superiors after they decide to protect a sadistic Iraqi CIA asset. Is that what sent Edwards over the edge, to become a man who betrayed his SEAL brothers at the end of Terminal List season one?

It’s really an emotional decision that changes the course of Ben Edwards’ life, and a couple of his teammates. Something happens to him, very personally, and he gets redemption. Then he accounts for it and is accountable for it. Not to give too much away, but I love that because war is not black and white, you live in the grey. They’re all human beings who have a moral compass, some more than others. I think we test that with Ben and Hopper [Raife Hastings] and the other supporting guys. It’s such a good reveal at the end of episode one. I not only fuck my life up, but I fuck my best friend’s life up. He’s got no purpose anymore, and then I am dragging him into the fight in Europe to go get more redemption. Then Ben just starts to unwind, and just gets caught up. I think once you have the lack of a leash — and there’s a great line, “Don’t you want to know what you’re fucking capable of when there is no one holding you back?” That’s what I hung my hat on. You’re making a difference, but without all the fucking paperwork, all the bullshit you have to deal with. That was where I was coming from.

How much do you do your own stunts?

The older I get, the more that percentage goes lower. I have two fucking amazing stuntmen in J.J. Dashnaw and Quinn [McPherson]. Quinn is a young buck, but he makes me look amazing! He’s about 27. But I like to do all the gun work. I take a lot of pride in that because it’s so much work. Any big falls, I’ll give to J.J. or Quinn. So I’ll say 70 percent [I do my stunts]. We have less ego with our stunts the older you get, I’ll tell you that. In my 30s, I was like, “Fuck it, let me do everything.”

Tell me about working with Tom Hopper.

I love Hop. He turned into a dear friend. He’s a great family man, a really good dude. He’s a great workout partner, a great scene partner.

So, I have to ask this: fans of the books know that your other close friend, James Reece (Pratt) kills Ben Edwards in the book, but the scene at the end of Terminal List season one leaves the death ambiguous. So, could Ben still be alive?

[A pause and stretch of silence] He could be, I guess.

That is all you are going to give me, eh?

Yeah, right.

Fair enough. So let’s talk about your nonprofit organization and ranch in Montana, Howlers Ridge, which you developed and came into fruition last year. What was the spark to help veterans, survivors of physical and mental trauma, and those in recovery from substance use disorders, among other challenges?

Trauma and addiction are two things that have really affected my life in a lot of ways, and I’m fortunate enough to be in a position to try and give back and see if this works. This spot up in Montana that is where Howlers Ridge is is 22 acres. It’s helped me personally a lot. Fom Lone Survivor, getting to know the Murphy family [real-life Navy SEAL Michael P. Murphy], Marcus Luttrell [the only survivor of Operation Red Wings, which the movie is based on], the SEALs and military community have really affected my life for the best. Addiction kind of ran through a lot of people in my family. And if I can help people stay clean or sober, or raise awareness, that’s what we’re trying to do up there. It is creating an environment of change and sustainability for them to stay clean, and then create an environment for these vets to come up and be in a safe environment for them to deal with whatever trauma and whatever they need to do to get back online.

I know you are originally from Canada. How did you find your way to Montana?

It is very similar to where I grew up with the mountains and the trees. I love riding motorcycles, and I love to track wolves with my camera. Montana has all of that. Me and one of my best friends were just doing a motorcycle ride through Bozeman to Yellowstone and ended up in Jackson. I just fell in love with the city. It stuck with me. Riding through these small towns reminded me of where I grew up, and felt like home. And I love the outdoors, man! So, it’s been an amazing fit so far. I’ve met a lot of like-minded people. I fly-fish all the time, do crazy mountain hikes and camp. I love it.

So you sort of created your own version of Yellowstone Ranch.

(Laughs) One hundred percent! That’s a good way to put it.

And what’s next after you take a break from the Terminal List: Dark Wolf world?

I am doing a movie with Peter Landesman called Eleven Days in a couple of months. And then I will be working on Howlers Ridge, trying to get that together to raise some money to help some people.

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The Terminal List: Dark Wolf is now streaming its first three episodes on Prime Video.