Josh Charles has no complaints about appearing alongside his former Dead Poets Society co-star Ethan Hawke as mad scientists in the video for Taylor Swift‘s 2024 single “Fortnight.” Hell, after the clip won the video of the year prize at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, Charles got a Moon Person for his role.
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“I got a Moon Man. It was pretty cool. The Video Music Awards, when I grew up, was the thing,” Charles, 54, told Jimmy Fallon on Monday night’s (Jan. 5) Tonight Show. “The idea that that came just speaks to what an incredibly generous, awesome person Taylor Swift is.”
Now, here’s where things got a bit dicey.
Fallon asked Best Medicine star Charles about rumors that he “got into a fight” with Swift’s fiancé, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, on the set of the video, a tale Hawke first shared last year on the Rich Eisen Show. During that appearance, Hawke said that Baltimore Ravens superfan Charles would not leave Kelce alone about the Chiefs’ heartbreaking 17-10 win over Baltimore in the 2024 AFC Championship game.
Specifically, Charles was worked up about a specific call he thought went the wrong way, with Hawke counseling his fellow actor to “let it go,” even as he praised Kelce being “super polite” about the awkward interaction.
“A fight? No, he exaggerated this. It wasn’t a fight,” Charles assured Fallon. “I’ve always liked Travis Kelce. I just thought he was so cool. But that year they beat us in the AFC Championship game — they beat the Ravens — he was a real jerk that year. So I kind of fell off of him.”
Describing the mood on set of the clip that also featured co-vocalist Post Malone, Charles said when he met Kelce he was blunt about his assessment of the sure-fire future football hall of famer, telling him, “‘You know I always liked you and this year you were kind of a d–k.’”
Fallon couldn’t believe it, shocked that Charles would confront the three-time Super Bowl champ, and legendarily good guy baller, saying, “You said that to Travis Kelce? He’s one of the most lovable people I know!”
Charles was unbowed, saying, “I did. I said, ‘What was up with that?’ And he laughed. He was like, ‘You know what, you’re right. I’m gonna tell you why.” The actor then said Kelce admitted that the Chiefs were “most worried about that game” that year and they were determined to come out on top. “He’s like, ‘I knew I had to come in with some swagger,’ and he did,” Charles said of Kelce. “He got one of our veterans to commit a personal foul. He got in our heads, and it worked for them, and they won the game.”
In the end, Charles admitted that Kelce was “actually great. We talked all different kinds of football… Such a good dude. I really like him a lot.” And even though Charles now really likes Kelce the man, when it comes to the gridiron, the star said his feelings still run purple, black, gold and red. “I’ll root against him,” Charles doubled-down of the football star who may have played his final game on Sunday, which the Chiefs lost in a 14-12 heartbreaker against the three-win Las Vegas Raiders.
And while Charles’ beloved Ravens won’t be making a Super Bowl run this year, he can take solace that Kelce will also be watching from home as the Chiefs will miss the playoffs for the first time in a decade this year after a dismal 6-11 season.
Watch Charles on the Tonight Show below.
