These players made an impact on the field and the silver screen!
There is a complex link between football and movies. Even though there have been a lot of excellent football documentaries throughout the years, there aren't many worthwhile films on the beautiful game. That hasn't, however, stopped many from attempting to bring football to the big screen or discouraged players from trying their hand at acting, albeit with differing degrees of success. Here we attempt to list those attempts down!
Even though Vinnie Jones was a tough guy on the pitch, not many people anticipated that the former Wimbledon midfielder would end up in Hollywood. Still, he did. Jones's performance in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels opened doors for a number of dramatic parts, such as those in X-Men: The Last Stand, Snatch, and Gone in 60 Seconds. And whatever your opinion of his acting, he has made a significant career for himself in the big screen after quitting football.
Eric Cantona has always been a little unconventional, so it should come as no surprise that the Frenchman entered the film industry after quitting football at the age of thirty. The former striker for Manchester United had an appearance opposite Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth as a French ambassador. Before making a brief appearance as himself in Ken Loach's Looking for Eric, he went on to appear in a number of plays in England and France.
Outside of Brazil, Pele's most well-known film appearance was in the drama Escape to Victory set in the Second World War. He starred in it with famous Hollywood celebrities like Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine, as well as fellow football players Bobby Moore and Ossie Ardiles. However, the three-time World Cup champion also acted in several Brazilian productions, such as the historical drama A Marcha.
Everyone is aware of the movie, Bend It Like Beckham, minus the presence of the guy! The midfield player was supposed to make a brief appearance for the 2002 hit, but a schedule conflict prevented it. Beckham did make a fleeting cameo as a knight in Goal! and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, directed by Guy Ritchie. Alongside a few of his Real Madrid teammates, The Dream Begins.
David Bekham’s acting debut
Stan Collymore's eventful career included ups and downs; it began with some incredible highs at Nottingham Forest, moved to Liverpool, and then saw a precipitous collapse. Collymore resigned in 2002, and a few years later, for some reason, he was cast with Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct 2. After crashing a sports vehicle over a bridge, Stone abandons Stan to perish in the river, and his four-minute scene ends. Stan hasn't been seen on a big screen since the movie flopped, defying the actress's later predictions that Collymore would become famous!
In 2000, when Ally McCoist's football career was coming to an end, he took a break to appear in the movie A Shot at Glory with a number of well-known actors. Robert Duvall and Michael Keaton co-star in the film, in which McCoist plays Jackie McQuillan, who is oddly referred to as "Scotland’s most notorious star soccer player" in the voice-over of the trailer. In it, the American owner of the team attempts to move the squad to Dublin, and he signs on with a failing Scottish team hoping to make it to their first-ever cup final. According to Kevin Costner, he possessed "an Olivier-type quality."
Although both professions may seem unrelated, a sportsman's experience in front of the camera during interviews and press conferences can sometimes aid in acting!
