There’s an upcoming Christmas movie on the 2024 TV schedule that’s turning a small group of football stars into Hallmark movie stars! That group includes Kansas City Chiefs players Trey Smith and Mecole Hardman Jr., the team’s coach Andy Reid and Travis Kelce’s beloved mom Donna Kelce, as they are playing parts in Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story alongside Hallmark vets Tyler Hynes and Hunter King. Now, Hynes is opening up about the sweet way he helped Kelce and more feel less overwhelmed while they worked on this exciting festive flick.
As many folks get excited to tune into the Hallmark Christmas movie that is centered around the Kansas City Chiefs, the lead of Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story’s cast, Tyler Hynes, spoke to People about the folks he got to work with. Talking about Donna Kelce specifically, the actor noted that Mama Kelce was “a little overwhelmed,” but that totally made sense, as he explained:
Donna was a little overwhelmed. It's a lot. There's a lot of people. There's a lot of moving parts, a lot of people talking to you in between [takes]. It's like we're making a movie in between the circus, so it's hard for anybody coming into that because they can feel that energy even if they can't articulate it. You can just see people being a little overwhelmed.
There certainly was a lot going on with this upcoming Hallmark movie. The story follows a lifelong Chiefs fan (King) as she enters a fan of the year contest. That’s how she meets the director of fan engagement (Hynes), and so begins a lovely little holiday love story.
They filmed the project in Kansas City and the iconic Arrowhead Stadium the same year the team won the Super Bowl. Plus, there’s no denying the fact that the team has their own real-life viral love story because of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. So, while I don’t know all the reasons why Hynes called the film a "circus," I get why he did.
However, the Three Wise Men and a Baby star has a sweet way of helping the newer performers and making them feel less overwhelmed on set. After speaking about Donna Kelce feeling a bit “overwhelmed,” Hynes explained his strategy for supporting new actors, saying:
There's a move I do sometimes. I shouldn't tell this secret, but when somebody's new on set, I'll come and I'll blow my line right away, just to sort of set the tone, put the bar down low. … I always say to these people who are coming in like this that the only difference between them and me is I don't care when I mess up a line. I just ask for a line. It's that sort of stigma that I think we need to get past. Nobody cares. We're all here on your team.
I love how quickly the It Was Always You star makes his co-stars feel comfortable. If I were Donna Kelce or Trey Smith, who said in the story that he was nervous on set, I’d 100% be anxious stepping into a production like this. However, knowing that things are chill, it’s OK to mess up and the entire cast and crew are there to assist each other would definitely make me feel better.
Now, I can’t wait to see Hynes and Kelce -- who plays a restaurant manager -- on screen together! Of screen, we know they’ve become pals through stories like this one and Donna Kelce’s about her encouraging Hynes and Hunter King to leave notes for Travis Kelce. So, I’m hopeful that that wholesome energy will find its way into the movie.
Luckily, we don’t have to wait long to see Mama Kelce on screen with Tyler Hynes and co., because Holiday Touchdown premieres on Hallmark tonight, November 30, at 8 p.m. ET.
