Indie actor gets Titanic break

Handsome actors are dime a dozen in Hollywood.

But for Kevin Zegers, being blessed with good looks hasn't got him far hard.

But hard work and consistently improving oneself did.

"It's very hard to make a living as an actor," he told The New Paper over the phone from Los Angeles.

The 27-year-old Canadian - who could pass off as Hollywood teen idol Zac Efron's older brother - admitted that he's "fortunate enough to do (acting)".

Having entered showbiz at the age of eight, Zegers is finally getting his break as the face of the upcoming historical TV drama Titanic: Blood And Steel.

The 12-episode series - which premieres on May 13 at 9pm on History (StarHub Ch 401) - chronicles the birth of the legendary ship in 1897 Belfast, from the planning stages to its construction to its doomed voyage.

Zegers plays Mark Muir, a young American metallurgist who has come to the Harland & Wolff dockyards in Belfast to work on the RMS Titanic, the biggest project of its age.

Zegers was quick to clarify that the series "isn't about the sinking of the ship".

"Everyone has seen the best version already," he said, referring to James Cameron's 1997 Oscar-winning epic Titanic.

"What we're trying to do here is to show people the historical, political, religious turmoil and war during that period."

He added that despite the series leaning towards a "documentary nature" with "accurate historical data", it's also a "rich and believable drama".

"Who would be interested to watch 12 hours of people nailing a ship together?" he said matter-of-factly.