Jenna Bush Hager is ready to get in the holiday spirit for her acting debut.
It was revealed on the Thursday, July 11, episode of Today that Bush Hager, 42, will appear in Hallmark’s upcoming NFL-inspired Christmas movie, Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story. “Here’s the script, but it’s top secret” she told her cohosts while walking out in Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce’s No. 87 jersey and a Santa Claus hat.
Bush Hager admitted that she first thought the movie was about Kelce, 34, and his relationship with Taylor Swift, joking, “[I thought] I got the Taylor role, but I didn’t. Shocker.” While the TV personality won’t be portraying Swift, 34, on screen, she said she “can’t tell you anything about my role.”
Bush Hager will have a speaking part in the new movie, which is about “a [Chiefs] superfan who falls in love with a man that works for the team,” she shared. “It’s Hallmark. Let’s think football, let’s think Christmas in July.”
When asked whether she will have any romantic scenes of her own in the film, Bush Hager teased, “Maybe.” She went on to note that she would be “flying down soon” to Kansas City and “had to pack a big jacket” despite the city’s hot temperatures.
Bush Hager’s Today cohosts are just as excited as she is about her Hallmark role. “You’re gonna be so good. I’m so excited,” Sheinelle Jones stated, while Hoda Kotb said Bush Hager is going to be “fantastic” in the film. Savannah Guthrie, for her part, added, “We’re proud of you. Go get ‘em.”
Later on Thursday’s episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna, Bush Hager said she was “touched” that Hallmark asked her to be a part of the film, adding, “I’ve never starred in a film before, and by star, I mean participate in any form.”
Having appeared in a handful of TV shows and films over the years, Kotb, 59, told her cohost that she’s “gonna have a blast” making the movie and that she “can’t wait to hear about it.”
Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story will star Hunter King and Tyler Hynes as a Chiefs superfan and the team’s director of engagement, respectively. Per the film’s description, King’s character Alana Higman, is “sure that her family’s lifelong history as Kansas City Chiefs superfans makes them a frontrunner to win the team’s ‘Fan of the Year’ contest.”
Sparks begin to fly between her and Hynes’ character, Derrick, as he evaluates her family and other Fan of the Year contenders — that is until Alana’s grandfather’s (Ed Begley Jr.) vintage Chiefs hat goes missing.
As a result, “Alana begins to doubt everything she believed about fate, destiny and even questions her future with Derrick — unless, that is, a little Christmas magic can throw a Hail Mary.”
King, 30, gave fans a behind-the-scenes look at the movie via Instagram on July 4, sharing pics and clips of an empty Arrowhead Stadium that was shut down for filming. “The best of Kansas City⚾️🏈 Thank you @hallmarkchannel ❤️ Can’t wait for what’s to come!” she captioned the post.
