Kansas City actor talks about working with Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes in two commercials

Deion Christian doesn’t enjoy disappointing Chiefs fans, but it does happen from time to time.

That’s the price of bearing a resemblance to Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

“I’ve been asked for my autograph, and being up here at Missouri Western whenever they had the camp going on, I had kids asking me for my autograph,” Christian said. “And it breaks their hearts that I wasn’t him, but I couldn’t lie to them.”

Christian is a local actor who grew up in Independence and went to Fort Osage High School. That likeness to Mahomes helped him land a gig as a stand-in for Mahomes in the Coors Light Bear commercial that came out earlier this year.

That mostly meant being on set when preparing for different parts of the commercial. But he also was in some shots from a distance.

The opening shot of the commercial is of Christian, he said.

Like Mahomes, Christian is 6 foot 2, one of the reasons why he was chosen by Coors Light.

“They mostly use me since we’re similar in stature and skin color and everything, they used me for the lighting, whenever he’s getting changed and everything and the camera angles,” said Christian, who at 26 is 2 years younger than Mahomes. “So knowing that I was part of making that was really cool.”

The commercial was shot at the Loch Lloyd Country Club, noted Christian, who also was a stand-in for last year’s Coors Light flashlight spot with Mahomes.

A third Coors Light commercial with Mahomes is coming next year, Christian added.

Christian said Mahomes was a down-to-earth person.

“He didn’t get there until later in the day, but he was there for about three hours,” Christian said. “And we worked together, we would take turns going in front of the camera and everything and talking. He’s a really nice guy. ...

“Honestly, we didn’t get to talk as much as I’d like to. He showed me his new leg tattoo. I showed him mine. He was talking about what he might get. You know, it was pretty cool. He’s really funny. We were just making jokes and stuff. He was making funny faces in between scenes. And it was really cool to see him in person and how that translates, how similar he is to what you see in interviews with (Chiefs tight end Travis) Kelce and everything.”

Working on the Mahomes commercials has been good for Christian’s résumé, and he is hoping it will lead to future acting jobs.

But beyond that, it was a thrill for this Chiefs fan to meet the best player in franchise history.

“Honestly, I was thinking about my childhood self,” Christian said. “It’s really life-changing almost, meeting somebody who you looked up to, an NFL player in general, especially Patrick Mahomes. It was pretty cool.”