The Kansas City Chiefs tight end will make a dramatic acting debut opposite Niecy Nash-Betts in the upcoming FX series.
Travis Kelce is pushing himself outside his comfort zone.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end is speaking out for the first time about his official acting debut in Ryan Murphy's Grotesquerie, in which he's starring opposite Niecy Nash-Betts. During Wednesday's episode of his podcast, New Heights presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment, the 34-year-old athlete opened up about how he's tackling the new gig.
"It's been so much fun," he told his brother and podcast co-host, Philadelphia Eagles alum Jason Kelce.
"Ryan Murphy is [an] unbelievable writer, director, producer, all of the above, man. He's just, there's nothing he can't do and everybody's just been so helpful in making me feel comfortable," Travis continued. "Even on top of that, just giving me kinda the direction I need and the coaching I need to portray the part that I'm in."
He added, "I feel like a jabroni. I feel like an amateur. And, uh, I haven't gotten fired yet so we're doing good. ... They haven't told me to f**king kick rocks after the first week, so it's been awesome."
It was Nash-Betts who first revealed Travis' casting, though details about the show's plot and his part have been kept under wraps.
A source told ET last week, "Travis Kelce is wearing many hats these days as he jumps into the acting world in his first TV series role, starring alongside Niecy Nash in Grotsequerie by Ryan Murphy. Details of Travis's role are still under wraps, however, it will be a guest-starring role, and his presence will be felt during the series."
The source added, "Travis is excited to exercise this skill set and show another side of himself off the field. More projects like this one are to come."
On Wednesday, Travis carefully addressed the topic of the series.
"It's such a cool and unique show," he revealed. "I don't want to give too much away, but the name itself can tell you it's quite a mystery and every scene has just been so much fun to be in."
After just a few days on the set so far, Travis said that he's learning plenty about the craft.
"I'm just taking it scene by scene and trying to make sure that I remember my lines," he said. "I'm very amateur at this."
He mused, "The biggest difference from being outside of the acting world and starting to get into it is, you're very much in tuned to the scenes and you don't want to get so much caught up on the lines. You want to be in the scene with whoever you're like acting with, right? So, I started off thinking, 'Man, just memorize your lines. Memorize your lines.' But in the reality of things, you want to be able to take that scene from one point to the next and portray, you know, exactly what the scene's meaning is."
Calling it "a fun challenge," Travis was sure to offer his humble gratitude to the showrunner for giving him a vote of confidence.
"I was kinda blown away and kinda, like, shocked that he was willing to give me a role like this, because it is a big role on the show," Travis said of Murphy. "He seemed very confident that I'd be able to do this and he kinda injected that in me the first conversation that we had. So hopefully I don't bomb this for him."
Jason was quick to chime in with another pep talk, assuring his younger brother, "No, you're gonna do good!"
"It sounds like everything is going as planned and I can't thank him enough for just this opportunity," Travis said. "I'm sure there's actors out there that 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."
Grotesquerie isn't technically Travis' first time on a scripted program. He also appeared as a fictional version of himself in a single episode of Moonbase 8 in 2020 with John C. Reilly, Fred Armisen and Tim Heidecker.
"It was just a completely different vibe," he said, comparing the two. "John C. was so f**king awesome, man. That was like pure comedy. It was nothing but comedy. Everything they were saying, I was just in the scene with them trying not to die laughing."
He elaborated that the experiences have been "night and day different."
Of course, Travis' TV credits also include a 2016 reality dating show titled Catching Kelce, as well as appearances in the Netflix docuseries Quarterback and Prime Video's Kelce, about his brother, Jason.
Travis was reporting in from Europe for the podcast, after being spotted at girlfriend Taylor Swift's Eras Tour performance in Paris, France, on Sunday.
At one point during New Heights, he addressed his jet-setting summer.
"It's like the yin to my yang, you know," he said. "Football, it keeps me locked in to Kansas City during the season and, you know, I just gotta fly around and have some fun in the offseason."
Travis has been busy with a full slate of projects during his time away from the gridiron, including signing a record-breaking contract extension with the Chiefs and hosting Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?.
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