Kelce and Kansas City Chiefs players including Trey Smith and Mecole Hardman Jr. are among the rookies in Hallmark Channel’s hotly anticipated new Christmas movie
Hallmark Channel’s upcoming Christmas movie Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story features a whole sleigh full of seasoned actors, but it also has a team of rookies stepping onto the Hollywood field for the first time.
Thankfully, they have Tyler Hynes and Hunter King in starting positions to help newcomers like Donna Kelce and Kansas City Chiefs players Trey Smith and Mecole Hardman Jr. feel at ease.
“Donna was a little overwhelmed,” Hynes, 38, told PEOPLE between scenes during an exclusive set visit at Arrowhead Stadium in July. “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,” he says.
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Hynes, who has starred in more than 20 movies for the network, had a “trick” up his sleeve to help Kelce and others tackle those nerves, though.
“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,” he confesses.
“You show them it’s okay to mess up,” King, 31, adds.
“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,” Hynes says. “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.”
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PEOPLE was able to watch Hynes put this into action — sort of — while filming a party scene with Chiefs offensive lineman Smith in the Penthouse at Arrowhead Stadium.
During the scene, Hynes, who plays the Chiefs Director of Fan Engagement Derrick, rattles off a bunch of stats about the team to impress superfan Alana (King), and Smith briefly joins their conversation. Several times, Hynes, who is Canadian and only recently got into football after filming a series of playoff promos for the Chiefs last year, called for help with a line or asked to restart his series of impressive figures.
“I was actually struggling with that line,” he admits. “All those statistics — I didn’t want to mess them up. If I get a comma wrong or don’t pronounce the right part of that, it’s all jibber-jabber to me.”
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Ever the supportive costar, King chimes in, “Also, because he’s right there! It’s even more pressure when he’s in front of you.”
Hynes explains further: “Do you know how bummed you would be if he watched the movie and he was like, ‘That’s not right.’ I would feel so bad!”
Smith, 25, took the whole experience in stride. “It wasn’t as much pressure as I thought it would be,” he tells PEOPLE. “I thought I would have to memorize my lines or that it would be a little bit tougher, but I’m thankful it wasn’t. Everyone’s been so sweet.”
It helped that Smith had a home-field advantage, though. “I’m definitely in my comfort zone,” he says with a laugh. “I’m never in this area without being stressed because usually I’m walking out of the tunnel for a game. So it’s definitely a lot more relaxing right now.”
As for Smith’s performance, “He did amazing,” Hynes says. “He’s a natural.”
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Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story premieres Saturday, Nov. 30, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel.
