Actor tackles football player roles

Before his current career as a stuntman, voice-over artist and actor, Laith Wallschleger was a defensive end at the University of Delaware. That college football experience came in handy this year, when Wallschleger portrayed onscreen versions of NFL tight ends Rob Gronkowksi and Travis Kelce.

Wallschleger drew praise, including from the actual Gronk, for his exaggerated capturing of Gronkowski’s jolly, party-loving demeanor in a few brief scenes in “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez,” the dramatization series on FX and Hulu about Hernandez, the former New England Patriots tight end who was convicted of murder.

Now Wallschleger is starring in a Lifetime movie, “Christmas in the Spotlight,” as a fictional football player who is courting a pop singer. The film was loosely inspired by the real-life events surrounding the subtle but then not-so-subtle start of Kelce’s relationship with Taylor Swift.

Wallschleger, 32, said he’s not trying to impersonate Kelce or his relationship with Swift.

“I feel like everybody knows that story, and if I was to try and do an impression of him, even though it’s not really him, the waters get a little muddy,” he said. “So I just took the role and went my own way with it.”

He hopes Swifties don’t have an issue with the story’s inspiration. The filmmakers aren’t trying to cash in on the Swift phenomenon, he insisted.

“We’re just saying, ‘Hey, we appreciate these two people, what they’ve done, how they’ve come together, and this is just like a homage to them.’ We just hope that people enjoy the story and see it for what it is. It’s a fun holiday movie.”

Wallschleger has known the Gronkowksi family for more than 10 years. That made getting into character easier.

“Being such close friends over the years, we’ve spent a lot of time together, so I’ve seen a hyped-up Gronk, chill Gronk, maybe even moody Gronk and all the different shades. I listened to a lot of podcasts that he was on just to get the voice and the mannerisms down.”

Which football player was the most fun to play?

“Gronk was really great, but it was so quick and such small scenes. You would have liked to do a little more,” he said. “But having the opportunity to lead a movie like I did with Lifetime, you learn so much on the job, so that was such a big learning experience for me.”