Travis Kelce continues transition from Football Guy to Acting Guy

Taylor Swift has finally locked herself down a working actor boyfriend. It turns out all she needed to do was date a football player first. Travis Kelce is continuing to take full advantage of his new golden ticket to Hollywood with a role in Grotesquerie, the latest horror series from Ryan Murphy (via Deadline). Plot details probably won’t be revealed until the show actually premieres sometime this fall, but we do know he’ll be appearing opposite at least Niecy Nash-Betts, Courtney B. Vance, and Lesley Manville, with potentially more to come.

This announcement comes on the heels of Kelce’s appointment to the head of the class as host of Are You Smarter Than A Celebrity?, an upcoming twist on early-2000s game show, Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?. He’s also served as executive producer on two films—SXSW premiere My Dead Friend Zoe and upcoming Jean-Michel Basquiat documentary King Pleasure—acted in an episode of the 2020 Fred Armisen, Tim Heidecker, and John C. Reilly comedy, Moonbase 8, and even hosted what A.V. Club reviewer Trae DeLellis deemed a “season-best” episode of Saturday Night Live last year.

Is he actually any good? We’ll let you decide for yourself. (You can watch DeLellis’ pick for MVP sketch above.) Even if this isn’t up your alley, Murphy does have a particular talent for molding non-actors into at least passable screen talents. Lady Gaga had appeared in a few smaller productions, but really got to flex her acting chops to the public at large in American Horror Story: Hotel in 2015. She won a Golden Globe for the role, and now she’s a bona fide movie star. Kim Kardashian featured in the latest installment of the long-running series in a performance A.V. Club writer Saloni Gajjar called “surprisingly promising.” And that’s Kim Kardashian.

But wait, wasn’t it the other Kelce who retired last year? Don’t worry, you didn’t get them confused. Somehow, Travis is still finding time to play tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, on a contract that locks him in until at least 2027 (per Forbes). At that time, however, he’ll be 38, which is definitely old, in football years. It’s not like he needs another career; he’s currently the highest-paid tight end in NFL history and will receive $34.25 million for each of the next two years. (Each!) Still, when you’re dating a literal billionaire, we guess you do have to keep up somehow.

You can watch a teaser for Grotesquerie below: