Jenna Bush Hager is set to make her acting debut in Hallmark’s upcoming holiday movie, “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story.” The announcement was made during the Today show, where Hager surprised her co-hosts by appearing on set in a Christmas hat and a Travis Kelce jersey.
“It’s Christmas in July… and I’ve got a hot script! Pumped that I get to be a part of Hallmark’s upcoming holiday movie — a Chiefs love story,” Hager wrote in a video shared on Instagram. In the clip, she teased her co-hosts, including Savannah Guthrie, Craig Melvin, Al Roker, Hoda Kotb, and Sheinelle Jones, about her new role. “I’ve got a hot script,” she said, waving a folded white piece of paper. “First of all, I thought it was about Taylor [Swift] and Travis [Kelce] and I thought I got the Taylor role but I didn’t… shocker.”
When asked about her role, Hager remained tight-lipped. “I can’t tell you anything about my role,” she said. However, she did provide a brief synopsis of the movie. “It’s a super fan who falls in love with a man who works for the team,” she hinted. “It’s Hallmark, let’s think football, let’s think Christmas in July.”
The video ended with Roker giving the moment his seal of approval. “This is the best,” he said.
In June, Hallmark Media and the Kansas City Chiefs announced they were working on a film centered around the football field. “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story” will pay full homage to the Chiefs, filming entirely in Kansas City, including on the field at Arrowhead Stadium, which has never been featured before in a Hallmark movie. Tyler Hynes, Hunter King, and Ed Begley Jr. are set to star in the project, with King playing Alana Higman, a finalist in the team’s “Fan of the Year” contest. Derrick (Hynes), the director of fan engagement, evaluates the finalists and sparks fly as he spends time with Alana. However, conflict arises when a vintage Chiefs winter hat belonging to her grandfather (Begley Jr.) goes missing. “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,” the movie’s synopsis reads.
The film comes after the Chiefs had a season like no other, with all eyes on their games due to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s love story, which began before the 2023 football season. It has yet to be determined if either will make an appearance in the film. “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story” will air during Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas.
Jenna Bush Hager, an author, television personality, mom of three, and journalist, is now adding actor to her resume. On TODAY, July 11, Jenna revealed that she will make her acting debut in the upcoming Hallmark holiday movie. The TODAY with Hoda & Jenna co-host shared the news on air while sporting a Chiefs jersey and a Santa hat as holiday music played in the background. She held tightly onto a copy of her script and said she couldn’t share more details about her cameo just yet. “Here’s the script, but it’s top secret,” Jenna told the TODAY team. However, she was able to share that she has a speaking part.
The holiday movie, which was first announced in June, will star actors Tyler Hynes, Hunter King, and Ed Begley Jr. “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story” will follow a woman named Alana (King) who comes from a family of die-hard Chiefs fans. One day, she decides to enter the team’s “Fan of the Year” contest and meets Derrick (Hynes), the director of fan engagement. Derrick must determine how Alana’s and her family’s support of the Chiefs compare to the other finalists in the competition. Derrick and Alana quickly sense chemistry between them, but they hit a speed bump when her grandfather’s (Begley Jr.) vintage Chiefs winter hat — his good luck charm — disappears. Suddenly, 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,” a June 25 press release for the film says.
The entire movie will be filmed in Kansas City, Missouri, including at the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium. “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story” marks the first time the stadium will be used as a filming location in a Hallmark movie. Production will begin in July 2024, and no release date has been announced.
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. “Here’s the script, but it’s top secret,” she told her co-hosts 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 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 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 co-hosts 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 told her co-host 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 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.
Jenna Bush Hager is officially dipping her toes into the world of acting! The 42-year-old mom of three was all smiles on the set of TODAY on July 11 as she giddily explained she has a role in an upcoming Hallmark Channel movie, marking her acting debut. Although details are scarce, there’s plenty for fans to get excited about — especially if you happen to be a fan of modern love stories and a certain Kansas City-based professional football team!
For viewers who missed it happening live on NBC, TODAY posted Hager’s memorable announcement on Instagram. She was beaming in an oversized Travis Kelce jersey and a Santa hat as she joined the TODAY set with the script in hand. (Hager also announced the news in a sweet Instagram selfie video later in the morning!)
It’s understandable that her colleagues would want as much information as possible, but alas, Hager’s lips were sealed shut. Although she came bearing the film’s script, she was adamant about not dropping any spoilers that would potentially upend production before it even started. “Here’s the script, but it’s top secret,” Hager explained. “I’ve got a hot script!”
Hager revealed she thought she nailed the lead role in a movie about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship, but it wasn’t meant to be. “First of all, I thought it was about Taylor and Travis, and I thought I got the Taylor role,” she said to laughter. “Um, but I didn’t, shocker.”
Announced in June, the film is titled “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story.” It will center around a woman named Alana who comes from a family of Chiefs superfans and falls for the team’s director of fan engagement. In addition to Hager, it will also star Tyler Hynes, Hunter King, and Ed Begley Jr.
“I can’t tell you anything about my role,” Hager explained. “It’s Hallmark — let’s think football, let’s think Christmas in July.”
Due to her wearing a gigantic Kansas City Chiefs #87 jersey, Al Roker put two and two together and asked Hager the obvious question about Kelce possibly appearing in the film. “You’re wearing Travis’ jersey, is he making any kind of—” he asked before getting playfully cut off by Hager. “I can’t — I don’t know,” she revealed.
In the end, we think America’s weatherman summed it up best with a perfect balance of incredulousness and humor: “So you can tell us nothing — what are you in, a Marvel movie?”
Source: Today, Hallmark Media
