Being Gronk: How this actor and stunt double plays the NFL legend on screen

Laith Wallschleger looked like a mess.

He had just run through an exploding wall — literally — as a stunt double for former NFL star Rob Gronkowski in a Super Bowl commercial and had plaster all over his hair, face and body. 

But he had a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to New York in a matter of hours, and his appearance was the last thing on his mind. Quickly throwing on a different set of clothes, Wallschleger rushed off the set and headed to Los Angeles International Airport for an acting role he had booked ... as Gronkowski.

Portraying Gronkowski, the future Hall of Fame tight end and larger-than-life personality, on screen was easy. After all, they’ve been friends since college. 

“I’ve hung out with him for so many years,” Wallschleger said of playing Gronk on FX’s "American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez."

“It’s kind of like imitating your brother.”

That familiarity was evident this past week when Wallschleger’s imitation of Gronkowski, the former New England tight end, went viral. The scene — Gronkowski speaking to teammate Aaron Hernandez in the Patriots locker room — was so spot on that the real-life version had to applaud the effort. 

I asked @RobGronkowski about the viral gronk actor clip from the FX show..

we watched it twice. :)

Backstory here: pic.twitter.com/whqASbUk90

— Kay Adams (@heykayadams) October 10, 2024

“That’s my good friend Laith who is playing me there. I’ve known him for about 14 years,” Gronkowski said on the "Up and Adams" podcast. “He got the laugh right on. If I’m up and energized and someone cracks a good joke, that’s definitely my laugh right on.”

Wallschleger, an actor, stunt double and voice-over artist, is a former defensive end at the University of Delaware who spent training camp with the Arizona Cardinals. After his athletic career came to a close in 2018, he auditioned for and got into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and moved to Los Angeles full-time to pursue a career in entertainment. 

He admits his physique — 6-foot-4, 255 pounds — and background as an athlete helped him land small roles early on. His first big break was as a football player in a film called "It's Time" about former Ole Miss defensive back Chucky Mullins, who was paralyzed after he made a tackle. It was there that Wallschleger met executives from Game Changing Films, a group that casts actors for sports-related projects. They eventually helped him get shows like The CW’s “All-American.”

The company’s mission seemed simple enough: find actors who could actually play sports to make a show or movie appear genuine. Except it wasn’t that easy. 

“You have the size component, you have the speed component, and then you have the performance component. It’s really hard to find all those things in an actor,” Wallschleger said. “Actors are, most of the time, pretty small. I mean, you look at Tom Cruise and he’s like, what, 5-8 or something like that? So it’s really difficult to find that combination.”

Wallschleger has gone on to play roles on "NCIS," "Grown-ish," "The Rookie," "9-1-1" and other shows. He is currently filming an episode of Peacock’s "Poker Face," and he is in an upcoming show called "Paradise," starring Sterling K. Brown and James Marsden. Oh, and it was announced this week that he is the lead in a Lifetime Christmas movie about a football player who finds love with a pop star (sound familiar?).

He has also narrated Dodge Challenger commercials and multiple video games. 

His true calling, however, may be as a stunt double for, in his words, “all the big white guys in the NFL.” 

Wallschleger has been cast as Travis Kelce, Nick Bosa, Joey Bosa, JJ Watt and Zach Ertz. In the NFL 100 Super Bowl commercial, he played legendary Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher and tackled Deion Sanders through a table.

No, of course not the real Deion Sanders. His stunt double. 

“They get paid millions of dollars,” Wallschleger said of professional athletes and coaches. “The last thing they want to do is step wrong, slip on something and then blow out a knee doing a freaking Visa commercial.”

Wallschleger is best known, at least now, as Gronk 2.0. The two became close friends years ago through his cousin Dean “Mojo” Muhtadi, who knew Rob’s brother Dan Gronkowski. The families started hanging out, and they have countless stories of partying together since. 

The camaraderie has paid off in a big way. When FX needed someone to play Gronk in "American Sports Story," Wallschleger was a natural fit. He would go on to film scenes as the teammate of Hernandez, the Patriots tight end later convicted of murder.

Wallschleger said he initially was worried about telling his friend about the role. Years ago, Gronk refused to speak about the highly sensitive matter.

"Back then, what’s there to gain to comment on that?" Wallschleger said. "You want to respect the family and the severity of the situation and just kind of stay out of it. But he gave me his full endorsement on set."

Usually, playing Gronk is far more fun.

For FanDuel’s “Kick of Destiny,” a live field goal attempt at halftime of the Super Bowl, Wallschleger stepped in for his friend in commercials leading up to the event.

In one, a montage similar to those in the "Rocky" films takes place. Gronk's quad explodes from overtraining and rips his shorts.

"That was my leg,” Wallschleger said. “It really kind of stemmed from there. It was like, ‘Hey, man, like, if you need me in the future, I got you.’”

This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:

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