EXCLUSIVE: Travis Kelce‘s foray into Hollywood continues with his first major acting job: a role in Ryan Murphy‘s high-profile new FX horror series Grotesquerie. According to sources, the NFL star — and global celebrity due to his relationship with Taylor Swift — has been cast opposite Niecy Nash-Betts, Courtney B. Vance and Lesley Manville in the upcoming series, which has just started production. Reps for FX, Murphy and producing studio 20th Television declined comment.
As is the case with all Murphy projects, details about Grotesquerie are scarce, with no cast members beyond Nash-Betts, Vance and Manville confirmed for the drama, slated for a fall premiere.
The series debut is expected to coincide with the next football season, which will see Kelce return to the Kansas City Chiefs coming off the tight end and team’s third Super Bowl win in five years.
Grotesquerie is a follow-up to Kelce’s acting debut as host of Saturday Night Live in March 2023. He also made a cameo alongside Swift on the NBC late-night sketch comedy series this past fall.
With his name gaining global recognition via his high-profile relationship with Swift, Kelce has been in demand. He has been open about his lofty Hollywood ambitions and has been branching out since signing with CAA last year.
Having previously dipped his toes in unscripted TV with his reality dating series Catching Kelce, which ran for one season in 2016, he recently signed on as host of Amazon’s Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? game show.
Known for his New Heights podcast, which he co-hosts with his brother and former NFL center Jason Kelce, Travis Kelce also recently made his debut as an executive producer on the indie film My Dead Friend Zoe, which premiered at SXSW. He is set to produce an upcoming documentary on artist Jean-Michel Basquiat titled King Pleasure.
UPDATE: Following Deadline’s story, Kelce posted a video on this IG stories from the set.
“Guys, guess who I am working with on Grotesquerie,” Nash-Betts says to the camera before Kelce joins her and says, “Coming into a new territory. With Niecy!.”
Nash posted several clips of her and Kelce from the set, including one of them in a car, and one after they had wrapped the night shoot, with Murphy giving Kelce a hug and telling him, “you were wonderful.”
Nash asked Kelce how he feels, to which he responded, “I’m just glad I didn’t hurt nobody.”
Murphy is known for helping talent cross over to acting. Several years ago, he gave Lady Gaga her first major role on American Horror Story: Hotel. She went on to star in A Star Is Born, earning an Oscar acting nomination for her performance.
Like Kelce, Gaga also had hosted SNL before getting a shot by Murphy.
Grotesquerie, which Murphy is doing with frequent collaborators Jon Robin Baitz and Joe Baken, released an all-text teaser in February. It included audio of Nash-Betts character, in which she says, “I don’t know when it started, I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s different now. There’s been a shift, like something’s opening up in the world — a kind of hole that descends into a nothingness.”
