Meet the actor who played (fake) Jason Kelce in Lifetime’s Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce Christmas movie
“Kelce’s a stud. He’s a good-looking guy, it’s hard to compete,” said Dennis Andres, who appeared in Lifetime’s “Christmas in the Spotlight.”
Philadelphia’s Jason Kelce look-alike contest took place Saturday in Rittenhouse Square. But one notable Kelce look-alike was missing — actor Dennis Andres, who played Rob Gonville in Lifetime’s Christmas in the Spotlight.
The movie was loosely inspired by Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s relationship, which has been the subject of public fascination for over a year, and Andres’ character is the Jason Kelce equivalent. While the character isn’t exactly like Kelce — for example, Gonville’s not the supportive older brother one might expect from the Kelce family — Andres still found inspiration through the former Eagles center.
“He’s a very family oriented guy; I’m a very family oriented guy,” Andres told The Inquirer. “He’s a strong leader, great teammate, on-and-off the field, but he seems to do it with a sense of humility, but also pride, which is nice to see. He brings a lot of what I deem pretty great qualities. He’s a good leader and a good family man and a good family member, so it didn’t take very long for me to kind of resonate with Jason Kelce.
“He’s also the older brother, I’m the older brother in my family, and the dynamic felt very smooth with Laith [Wallschleger] being a couple years younger than I am. We bonded over the football experience, and being troublemakers in our youth. I think we bonded very quickly.”
In Christmas in the Spotlight, Andres’ character is the star quarterback — another difference from the real-life Kelce — and the older brother of Drew Gonville (Wallschleger), a star receiver who falls in love with pop star Bowyn Sykes. Despite growing up in Canada, Andres played football for years (though as a defensive player rather than a quarterback), which made the role “nostalgic.”
“I was just like every other young boy, whose dream is to play football professionally one day, but as you know, a six foot Canadian, I’ve seen some of these NFL players, and let’s just say there’s not too many of my size on the field,” Andres said. “Outside of the fact that I’m now several years older than I was, and you could feel it the next day, it was just really nice to get back into some pads and toss the ball around, have some fun.”
Andres’ experience playing football also helped inform the brothers’ relationship for the movie. Unlike the Kelce brothers, the Gonville brothers are teammates in Christmas in the Spotlight, and Drew’s desire to leave the team for a better contract elsewhere creates conflict between the two brothers.
Growing up as a football player, Andres always watched iconic football movies like Remember the Titans and Any Given Sunday, which made the football scenes in Christmas in the Spotlight a blast to film.
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But he’s still not expecting to win any Jason Kelce look-alike contests anytime soon.
“Kelce’s a stud. He’s a good-looking guy, it’s hard to compete — and his beard, I can’t even hold a match to that guy’s beard,” Andres said. “I’m going to give myself a pat on the back and say that I’m going to come in [the] Top 10, but I don’t know that I would come in any anything closer than that.”