Mandy Moore says she ‘felt like Taylor Swift’ while learning the NFL for her new role

Some people are devoted fans of the NFL, watching every game with a deep knowledge of the rules of the game. Before her latest project, Mandy Moore was not one of them. The 41-year-old actor is starring in a new football-themed series for Hulu, and her preparation period had her feeling like Taylor Swift. 

During her appearance on Today With Jenna & Friends, Moore revealed she’s teaming up once again with This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman. The series centers around the world of professional football, with Moore playing the daughter of an NFL team owner.

The series started filming a couple of weeks ago, and she admitted she “knew nothing” about the NFL. “You guys, I feel like Taylor Swift. I had to learn all about the NFL,” she explained. 

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Moore said her character is like a boss and seems to be loosely inspired by Charlotte Jones, the executive vice president and chief brand officer of the Dallas Cowboys, and the daughter of owner Jerry Jones. “[I’m playing] someone who’s being primed to potentially take over for Dad when he steps down,” she teased.

Moore wasn’t throwing a jab at Swift; the singer has admitted herself in the past that she didn’t know much about football until she found herself in the stands cheering on Travis Kelce. “Football is awesome, it turns out,” Swift told Time last year, admitting she’d been “missing out [her] whole life.”

“I legitimately asked him what it was like when the Chiefs played the Eagles in the Super Bowl, and he looked across the field, across the line of scrimmage, and saw his brother standing on the other five feet in front of him on the field,” Swift explained. 

“I now know what an insane question that was. He was like, ‘Actually, I’m on the offense and my brother’s on the offense, and I’m only on the field at the same time as the defense,” the “Opalite” singer continued.

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Now, Swift is super into the sport. Kelce’s best friend, Patrick Mahomes, even vouched for her skills. “When she’s talking about football, when she’s learning it, you can see her business mind putting it together. It’s almost like she’s trying to become a coach. ‘Why can’t you try this, this, and this?’ She’s asking the right questions,” Mahomes told Time.

With the Super Bowl around the corner, we might see Swift and Moore in the stands with all their new knowledge.