Travis Kelce isn’t the only member of the Kansas City Chiefs making a run at an acting career!

Mecole Hardman Jr., the wide receiver who caught the game-winning touchdown at the Super Bowl this year, has his eyes set on Hollywood. And his debut is just around the bend in Hallmark Channel’s Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story, premiering on Saturday, Nov. 30.

“I definitely want to act,” Hardman, 26, tells PEOPLE while sitting in the stands at Arrowhead Stadium in between scenes for Holiday Touchdown. “I’ve been talking about this since I was a little kid. Every time I see a movie, I’m like, ‘I can really do that. That’s something that I can do.’ You know what I’m saying? I know I play football, but that’s just something that’s always in the back of my mind.”

While the much-anticipated Christmas movie — which also stars Tyler Hynes, Hunter King and Donna Kelce — is Hardman’s first on-screen acting experience, it’s not his first time stepping into a role.

“I did a few plays growing up with my mama, actually,” he shares. “I’ve always been fascinated with actors; Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Tom Cruise, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael B. Jordan. I can keep going. They all kind of inspired me.”

Hardman sees his time on the field in front of millions as giving him the “confidence” he’d need for such a career — and it’s certainly one his teammate Kelce has used to his advantage during his recent turn in FX’s Grotesquerie.

“It’s pressure and confidence,” he says. “Obviously, it’s my profession, but performing doesn’t really bother you because you play in front of thousands in person and then millions watch you at home. So you’ve always got people critiquing you, anything you do. I think it translates to the movie world because you have critics and everybody has their opinion. So, I think that kind of prepares you for it.”

Like his teammate, Hardman isn’t planning to drop football anytime soon to pursue these dreams.

“I’ve got plenty of years in the league, but I can always film a movie in the off-season,” he says.

For Hardman’s first scene in Holiday Touchdown with lines, King’s Chiefs superfan character Alana approaches him and viral feline Catrick Mahomes and asks to take a selfie with them. “I felt a little nervousness, but I think I was ready,” he says. “If you’re not nervous, you’re not ready.”

After a couple of rehearsals, Hynes encouraged Hardman to try to say the line in a way that felt more natural to him.

“Tyler came to me and was like, ‘Do you want to change them?’ ” he recalls. “I’m like, “‘Yeah, I’d rather say this a little differently.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, I’ll tell [the director and producers for you].’ Okay, bet. Then we did it, and he was like, ‘Great take.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I know I killed that one.’ “

In addition to Hynes’ support, Hardman admits that sharing the screen with King elevated his game.

“Freaking Hunter’s great,” raved the father of two with fiancée Chariah Gordon. “I mean, she’s easy. She’s definitely like eye contact, boom, and she’d go along with it. If you’re off script, she’ll go off script with you. It was perfect.”

“When you’re around good people — because Tyler and Hunter are great and they’re so good together — it works,” he adds.

Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story premieres Saturday, Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel.