Chicago Fire's Taylor Kinney: take a look back at the star's early career

The actor first appeared on screens more than 15 years ago

Taylor Kinney has built up quite the fanbase since he began playing Kelly Severide on the hit NBC series Chicago Fire but the TV star was no stranger to success before the firefighter drama began.

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In fact, the 39-year old actor first appeared on screens more than 15 years ago when he was just 25 years old. In 2006, Taylor bagged a part on a show called , a late-night soap opera set in the cutthroat world of the fashion industry. He played a character named Luke Gianni and appeared in every episode of the short-lived soap – see a clip from his time on the show below…

WATCH: Taylor Kinney made his television debut in soap opera

After , Taylor went on to appear in a number of other popular shows, including medical drama , detective series and . In 2010, he landed his breakout role on the teen series Vampire Diaries, where he played a werewolf named Mason Lockwood. Before his character was killed by Ian Somerhalder's Damon Salvatore, he appeared in ten episodes across the show's second season.

The same year he made his exit, he appeared in Lady Gaga's music video for the song You and I, during which he struck up a romance with the songstress. The pair dated for five years and got engaged on Valentine's Day 2015. However, they ended up calling off their engagement in July 2016.

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Taylor at 25 years old

Since 2012, Taylor has been keeping Wednesday night viewers entertained thanks to his starring role on the show. However, over the last nine years, he's also found the time to squeeze in other projects too and his film credits includeand

Fans of Taylor's role in have been feeling stressed more recently after rumours began circulating that he could be set to depart the show. Although the actor hasn't spoken out about his future, he's often vocal about his love for being a part of the series.

"It's never lost on me how special it is to be a part of something with the longevity this has," he said to. "It's a testament to [show creator] Dick Wolf and the team of people he puts together."

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