Travis Kelce may be an all-star on the football field, but he’s still getting his footing in the acting space after scoring what he called a “big role” in Ryan Murphy’s new TV show.
“I feel like a jabroni, I feel like an amateur,” Kelce, 34, said during the Wednesday, May 15, episode of the “New Heights” podcast. “Haven’t gotten fired yet, so we’re doing good.”
News broke earlier this month that Kelce joined the cast of the new FX horror series, Grotesquerie, which is from American Horror Story creator Murphy. While remaining tight-lipped on the details surrounding the series, Kelce noted that it’s “such a cool and unique show.”
“The name itself can tell you it’s quite a mystery,” Kelce said. “And every scene has just been so much fun to be in.”
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The Kansas City Chiefs tight end was unsure how many episodes he’ll appear in, but he added, “Right now, I’m just taking it scene by scene and trying to make sure that I remember my lines. Like I said, I’m very amaetur at this.”
As someone who’s new to the industry, Kelce noted that there have been some aspects of the gig that have surprised him.
“The biggest difference from being outside of the acting world and starting to get into it, is you’re very much in tune with scenes. You don’t want to get so much caught up with the lines, you want to be in the scene with whoever you’re acting with, right?” he said. “I started off thinking, ‘Man, just memorize your lines. Memorize your lines.’ But in reality of things is you want to be able to take that scene from one point to the next and portray exactly what the scene’s meaning is.”
Kelce noted that he’s enjoyed “unraveling that” with Murphy and his costars, including Niecy Nash Betts. Kelce added, “It’s a fun challenge for me right now.”
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Travis’ brother, Jason Kelce, recalled asking Miles Teller at Super Bowl LVIII how the Top Gun actor chooses his next role. “[Teller] said, ‘First of all, you read the script. It’s all about the script.’ But then he said, ‘It’s also about directors, writers, producers, like, all these other people that it takes,’” Jason, 36, noted.
Travis, for his part, said he was “blown away” that Murphy was “willing to give him a role like this” because “it is a big role in the show.” Travis added that Murphy — who is behind hits such as Glee, Nip/Tuck and The Assassination of Gianni Versace — seemed “confident” in him and made sure he knew that during their first conversation.
“Hopefully I don’t bomb this for him,” Travis said with a laugh. “It sounds like everything is going as planned, and I can’t thank him enough for just this opportunity because I’m sure there’s actors out there who have been in the acting world that would die for an opportunity to work with Ryan, and I’m getting it in, really, my first gig ever. So it’s pretty unique and pretty cool.”
