Actor Taylor Kitsch has begun preparing for his upcoming role in Peter Berg’s Lone Survivor movie. Kitsch, who will portray medal of honor recipient Lt. Michael Murphy, has been growing his beard out for the past several weeks in order to duplicate the look of the Murphy and his SEAL team during Operation Redwings.

A photo taken in late June shows Kitsch sporting his bearded look in the New York airport. He told JustJared.com, “I’m meeting my character [Mike Murphy]‘s family in a month,” Taylor added. “I’m really excited.”