Grotesquerie Cast Gushes About Travis Kelce, Teases His Character

Travis Kelce‘s Grotesquerie costars don’t know much about his role on the show — but they still loved getting to share the screen with him.

During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Courtney B. Vance, Raven Goodwin, Micaela Diamond and Nicholas Chavez revealed how much — or how little — they knew about Kelce’s involvement in the upcoming FX series before he arrived on set.

“Ryan Murphy’s world is shrouded in secrecy — even to us,” Chavez, 25, teased about Kelce’s role. “It makes it a really fun world to be a part of because we’re constantly being surprised just the same way that the audience is.”

Diamond, 25, recalled Kelce, 34, coming in “so game” to work on the show, adding, “We all were just like, ‘Let’s make a TV show.’ That’s something Niecy [Nash] said all the time. There’s part of this that’s just play. We’re just playing and [Travis] can do that.”

After collaborating with the athlete on screen, Diamond called Kelce a committed “team player.”

“This was my first big TV show and also his,” she shared. “So we were in it together trying to soak up as much as we could and be inspired by the veteran actors around us and listen and respond.”

Vance, 64, and Goodwin, 32, were more tight-lipped about the time they got to spend with Kelce. The duo, who play father and daughter on Grotesquerie both told Us they “did some scenes” with Kelce but they “didn’t know anything” about his involvement for a while.

“I had heard that he was possibly joining us and then the next thing I heard he was there. It was like, ‘He’s here.’ But he was super prepared and we had fun and great scenes with him,” Vance, who plays Marshall, shared. “I had great scenes with him so I was just in awe of him.”

Goodwin, who brings Merritt to life, called Kelce a “great guy.”

“Everybody [on set] was FaceTiming their kids like, ‘Look who I’m with,’” she recalled. “But he was gracious and sweet and kind and very tall.”

Grotesquerie, which premieres on Wednesday, September 25, marks Kelce’s acting debut. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end is getting used to being in front of the camera more. Kelce is also set to host Prime Video’s upcoming game show Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? and has a role in Happy Gilmore 2.

While minimal information has been released about Grotesquerie, Kelce is still referred to as an “unrevealed character.” Footage from the FX series showed Kelce delivering some epic lines, but it is unclear who he will share the screen with — and for how long.

“Right now, I’m just taking it scene by scene and trying to make sure that I remember my lines. Like I said, I’m very amaetur at this,” Travis said on his and brother Jason Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast about the opportunity. “Hopefully I don’t bomb this for [Ryan]. It sounds like everything is going as planned, and I can’t thank him enough for just this opportunity because I’m sure there’s actors out there who 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.”

Travis teased that he has a “big role” in the show.

“The biggest difference from being outside of the acting world and starting to get into it, is you’re very much in tune with scenes. You don’t want to get so much caught up with the lines, you want to be in the scene with whoever you’re acting with, right?” he added. “I started off thinking, ‘Man, just memorize your lines. Memorize your lines.’ But in reality of things is you want to be able to take that scene from one point to the next and portray exactly what the scene’s meaning is.”

Grotesquerie premieres on FX Wednesday, September 25, at 10 p.m. ET. New episodes stream on Hulu the next day.