Taylor Kitsch Reveals He Had to Have Foot Surgery After a Stunt Got 'Messy' on “American Primeval” Set (Exclusive)

The 'Friday Night Lights' alum opens up to PEOPLE about the physical challenges that came with his new Netflix Western

Taylor Kitsch is a natural fighter as the mysterious Isaac in Netlix's new Western American Primeval — but behind the scenes, his body took a toll.

While filming a fight scene for the second episode of the series, the Friday Night Lights alum, 43, says he ended up with a broken foot after a "stunt got a little messy."

"The guy was a big boy, so when he landed on my foot, I knew it was broken," he says.

He continued to shoot with his foot broken for the rest of the day, and after a visit to the doctor, he was told to wear a boot for four weeks. At his follow-up appointment, he says his doctor told him, "You need surgery today or tomorrow morning."

"They cut a bone out of my foot, and I was on a couch for six weeks and couldn't walk," he says. "Then I was in a boot for another six weeks. Obviously, you have to cut all these nerves out, and that made my foot colder a lot quicker, so we were kind of battling that for a while."

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Beyond the stunts and braving the cold elements while shooting on location, the show, which premieres Jan. 9, was physical for Kitsch in other ways.

"I lost a bunch of weight because when you meet Isaac, he's got not a whole lot of purpose left after losing his family, so he's kind of just existing," he says. "So that was just in prep. And then, we did a lot on horseback. I'm not a great horseman, so we had a cowboy camp for around three weeks before we started, and I live in Montana now, so I got a little bit ahead of the curve and had a buddy that has a few horses on his ranch, so started there. That's way more physical than you think it's going to be too."

Working with horses, he says, is like "dealing with a child."

"If they don't want to do something, man, even if you pull those reins as hard as you can, they just will do whatever they want," he says. "That was definitely a challenge, but I got to tip the hat to my double and the wranglers. My double is just incredible on a horse. I think if I was in my 20s, my ego would be like, 'No, I want to do all this horse stuff,' but I'm sitting there in a boot in the snow like, 'All right, JJ, you got this,' and he would do it in one take. So you wisen up a little."

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In between takes, Kitsch says he and costar Betty Gilpin would joke, "Man, I feel so fortunate I wasn't around at this time because it's no joke."

American Primeval marks Kitsch's fifth project with director Pete Berg, whom he says is like a "brother," since they first worked together on FNL starting in 2006.

"He took a chance on me with FNL," he says. "I didn't have my process yet with FNL, so I leaned on him a lot more. With any set, trust is everything. So when you have almost 20 years working together off and on, it's already there. That helps a lot because you can just take massive swings and just go for it."

"It's been a crazy ride with him," he continues. "I think we're both proud of doing stuff that's so different. It's not like we're doing [Tim] Riggins every five years. I'm always flattered when he calls, and he's like, 'All right, man, you want to challenge? Here you go.'"

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Of American Primeval, Kitsch says it's like "my own little Braveheart: so raw and period."

"I would love to do something like this again," he says. "I hope we can keep getting some crazy characters and telling stories."

American Primeval premieres on Jan. 9 on Netflix.