--- title: Travis Kelce to Act in ‘Grotesquerie’ TV Show description: This fall, Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce will be seen playing a character on Ryan Murphy’s latest horror series. canonical: https://time.com/6975864/travis-kelce-ryan-murphy-acting-grotesquerie/ author: Koh Ewe article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-05-08T09:40:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-01-19T12:56:55.000Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Travis Kelce to Act in ‘Grotesquerie’ TV Show og:description: This fall, Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce will be seen playing a character on Ryan Murphy’s latest horror series. og:url: https://time.com/6975864/travis-kelce-ryan-murphy-acting-grotesquerie/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81569ce556e8f9cc/698a5684b3fce3fb490cd257/Travis-Kelce-Grotesquerie.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Travis Kelce Ryan Murphy Grotesquerie og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Travis Kelce to Act in ‘Grotesquerie’ TV Show twitter:description: This fall, Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce will be seen playing a character on Ryan Murphy’s latest horror series. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81569ce556e8f9cc/698a5684b3fce3fb490cd257/Travis-Kelce-Grotesquerie.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Football Star Travis Kelce Jumps Into Acting, Joining Cast of New Ryan Murphy Horror Series by [Koh Ewe](/author/koh-ewe/) ## Koh Ewe Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore. Updated: Jan 19, 2026 12:56 PM CUTPublished: May 8, 2024 9:40 AM CUT  Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce walks the red carpet before the Super Bowl championship ring ceremony in Kansas City in June 2023. Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce walks the red carpet before the Super Bowl championship ring ceremony in Kansas City in June 2023.Kansas City Star/Getty Images by [Koh Ewe](/author/koh-ewe/) ## Koh Ewe Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore. Updated: Jan 19, 2026 12:56 PM CUTPublished: May 8, 2024 9:40 AM CUT 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](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6r8gmPvC2h/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&ig%5Frid=9bdbfa43-07fb-433e-95f6-616abed0c72d "undefined") 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](https://deadline.com/2024/05/travis-kelce-cast-grotesquerie-ryan-murphy-fx-1235908246/ "undefined") reported on Tuesday along with confirmation of Kelce’s participation. The 34-year-old tight end, who just [renewed](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6W9lUFPGdc/ "undefined") his contract with the [Super Bowl-winning](https://time.com/6693826/patrick-mahomes-super-bowl-chiefs-49ers-mvp-drive/ "undefined") 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](https://time.com/6342806/person-of-the-year-2023-taylor-swift/ "undefined"). “This is what happens when WINNERS link up,” Nash-Betts, who was recently awarded a best supporting actress [Emmy](https://time.com/6555525/emmy-awards-guide-winners-nominees-host/ "undefined") for her role in Netflix’s [_Dahmer_](https://time.com/6218411/jeffrey-dahmer-netflix-controvesy/ "undefined") (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_](https://time.com/4547319/american-horror-story-is-frightfully-good-with-secrets/ "undefined"), [_American Crime Story_](https://time.com/4193893/review-the-people-v-o-j-simpson-american-crime/ "undefined")_, and_ [_Feud_](https://time.com/6590540/feud-capote-vs-the-swans-true-story/ "undefined")—details about the upcoming series have been shrouded in secrecy. **Read More:** [_How Ryan Murphy Became King of the Streaming Boom_](https://time.com/5667752/ryan-murphy-netflix/ "undefined") Murphy’s production company released a [teaser](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3spIn4Rb1W/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&ig%5Frid=2799d3d3-8e03-4e58-9d09-c72d22d03897 "undefined") 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](https://www.vulture.com/article/ryan-murphy-new-horror-series-grotesquerie-cast-release-date-details.html "undefined") 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](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/entertainment/travis-kelce-are-you-smarter-than-a-celebrity-prime-video "undefined") 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](https://time.com/6694738/travis-kelce-producer-credit-movie-super-bowl-champion/ "undefined") with _My Dead Friend Zoe_, a film that premiered at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, in March. He’s also [helping to finance](https://variety.com/2024/film/news/travis-kelce-my-dead-friend-zoe-financed-energy-tax-credits-1235908057/ "undefined") _King Pleasure_, a documentary about artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Kelce made his acting debut in a [brief appearance](https://www.newsweek.com/moonbase-8-showtime-travis-kelce-cameo-1545940 "undefined") as a fictional version of himself in Showtime’s space comedy _Moonbase 8_ in 2020\. He [hosted](https://ew.com/tv/recaps/snl-recap-season-48-episode-14/ "undefined") _Saturday Night Live_ in March 2023 and reappeared on the sketch comedy show last October in a [cameo](https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/snl-taylor-swift-travis-kelce-how-it-happened-saturday-night-live-1235757966/ "undefined") alongside Swift. He previously starred in an eponymous reality TV dating series, [_Catching Kelce_](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/10/travis-kelce-reality-dating-show-he-doesnt-want-you-to-see-catching-kelce "undefined"), in 2016, and he has co-hosted football podcast [_New Heights_](https://www.youtube.com/@newheightshow "undefined") with his brother, recently retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, since 2022\. Kelce reshared Nash-Betts’ Instagram video on his own [account](https://www.instagram.com/killatrav/ "undefined") 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!” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6975864/travis-kelce-ryan-murphy-acting-grotesquerie/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6975864/travis-kelce-ryan-murphy-acting-grotesquerie/"},"headline":"Football Star Travis Kelce Jumps Into Acting, Joining Cast of New Ryan Murphy Horror Series","datePublished":"2024-05-08T09:40:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-01-19T12:56:55.000Z","description":"This fall, Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce will be seen playing a character on Ryan Murphy’s latest horror series.","url":"https://time.com/6975864/travis-kelce-ryan-murphy-acting-grotesquerie/","keywords":["Television","overnight","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81569ce556e8f9cc/698a5684b3fce3fb490cd257/Travis-Kelce-Grotesquerie.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Koh Ewe","jobTitle":"Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore.","url":"https://time.com/author/koh-ewe/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81569ce556e8f9cc/698a5684b3fce3fb490cd257/Travis-Kelce-Grotesquerie.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Travis Kelce Ryan Murphy Grotesquerie","caption":"Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce walks the red carpet at Union Station for the Super Bowl LVII championship ring ceremony in June 2023.","creditText":"Kansas City Star/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6975864/travis-kelce-ryan-murphy-acting-grotesquerie/","name":"Football Star Travis Kelce Jumps Into Acting, Joining Cast of New Ryan Murphy Horror Series"}}]}] ```