Nick Jonas' TV dad can't listen to the singer's music

Nick Jonas' tough-talking dad in gritty TV drama Kingdom is not a fan of the pop star's music

Frank Grillo admits he's impressed by the young singer's acting skills, despite initially fearing he wouldn't be tough enough for the series, which is set around the world of mixed martial arts, but he can't listen to songs like Chains and Jealous.

"God bless him, I'm sure it's great music, but no..." Grillo tells People. "I love Jack White."

But while the actor is a critic of Jonas' tunes, he's a big fan of his acting.

He adds, "He wants to be everything and he can do all those things. We brought Nick in before he was a pop star.

"He's a young guy and he works hard. He's professional, he's a sweetheart; he's trying to juggle this amazing career. He's great."

Grillo admits he was against the idea of Nick joining the cast of Kingdom, because he didn't think the pop star would be convincing as a mixed martial arts champ.

Speaking to chat show host Jimmy Kimmel earlier this year (16), the actor, who shares an agent with Jonas, said, "I was against it... I said, 'No, never gonna happen...' I had done a movie called Warrior which is like the martial arts movie and I said, 'I have a lot at stake here... He's not doing it, forget it. Don't even send him in'.

"They sent him in... 30 guys come in and he was one of the last guys (to audition) and I sat there and I read with him and I looked at the producers and I said, 'He's the guy...' He was that much better than everyone else."