Football Star Travis Kelce Jumps Into Acting, Joining Cast of New Ryan Murphy Horror Series

Travis Kelce won’t just be seen playing football this fall. He’ll also be seen playing a character on Grotesquerie, producer Ryan Murphy’s latest horror series, in the NFL star’s first major foray into acting.

In an Instagram post Tuesday, actor Niecy Nash-Betts shared a peek of the Grotesquerie set, along with a reveal of its surprise cast member. “Guys, guess who I am working with on Grotesquerie?” she said as she panned the camera to Kelce, who replied, “jumping into new territory.”

The series, expected to premiere on FX later this year, has just started production, Deadline reported on Tuesday along with confirmation of Kelce’s participation. 

The 34-year-old tight end, who just renewed his contract with the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs last week, has recently seen his popularity soar to meteoric heights, transcending sports fandom amid his public relationship with singer and TIME Person of the Year Taylor Swift. 

“This is what happens when WINNERS link up,” Nash-Betts, who was recently awarded a best supporting actress Emmy for her role in Netflix’s Dahmer (also created by Murhpy), wrote in the caption of her Instagram post with Kelce.

What do we know about Grotesquerie?

Like many of Murphy’s other creations—which include American Horror Story, American Crime Story, and Feud—details about the upcoming series have been shrouded in secrecy. 

Read More: How Ryan Murphy Became King of the Streaming Boom

Murphy’s production company released a teaser of the horror drama in February, revealing only the casting of Nash-Betts, Courtney B. Vance, and Lesley Manville, displayed over an audio clip of a monologue by Nash-Betts’ character: “What I saw today…” she said, “they sent shrinks for everyone who worked this crime scene.”

Kelce’s expansion into entertainment

Kelce has been rapidly expanding his footprint in the entertainment scene. Last month, Amazon announced that he will be the host of all 20 episodes of Prime Video’s Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?—an upcoming spinoff of the game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? 

“I grew up loving game shows,” Kelce said at the time. “I’m just happy to be on the hosting side of the equation here and excited to see how these famous faces keep up.”

Earlier this year, Kelce made his executive producing debut with My Dead Friend Zoe, a film that premiered at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, in March. He’s also helping to finance King Pleasure, a documentary about artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Kelce made his acting debut in a brief appearance as a fictional version of himself in Showtime’s space comedy Moonbase 8 in 2020. He hosted Saturday Night Live in March 2023 and reappeared on the sketch comedy show last October in a cameo alongside Swift. He previously starred in an eponymous reality TV dating series, Catching Kelce, in 2016, and he has co-hosted football podcast New Heights with his brother, recently retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, since 2022.

Kelce reshared Nash-Betts’ Instagram video on his own account on Tuesday, seemingly embracing this next dramatic phase of his multifaceted career, with a caption that said: “Steppin into a new world with one of the legends!”