Patrick Schwarzenegger on playing Tim Tebow in Ryan Murphy’s ‘American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez’

The third installment of FX’s American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez is now streaming on Hulu. Based on the podcast Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc., the series “explores the disparate strands of his identity, his family, his career, his suicide and their legacy in sports and American culture.”

The third episode, “Pray the Gay Away,” features Patrick Schwarzenegger as Tim Tebow, who was Hernandez’s former college teammate. The Gen V star tells ABC Audio his involvement all comes back to the show’s producer Ryan Murphy.

“It’s so funny because so many people asked me why was I interested in doing something that was only in the show for two episodes when some of the other stuff I’ve done before was bigger,” Patrick says.

He says one of his goals as an actor is “to surround myself with really great talent and showrunners and producers.” He notes, “I’m a huge fan of what Ryan’s done in the industry, he’s been a powerhouse for decades on end, and to be able to work with him in any capacity for me is a great win.” 

When reminded that Murphy often recasts actors he’s previously worked with, Schwarzenegger laughed, adding, “That’s exactly what I was thinking.” 

Tebow’s Christian faith is famously important to him, and how he lives his life couldn’t be a sharper contrast to the one that Hernandez infamously led off the field.

“He’s faith first, faith forward,” the actor says of Tebow. “[He] notices that there’s something else happening off the field, and how can he reach out and be a lending hand to try to make Aaron a better human and to learn from his mistakes? And … Tim understands those mistakes to be, you know, drugs and alcohol and partying.” 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.