After tearing apart the football field during the peak of their careers, many footballers took a shot at acting. While some of these people managed to achieve success and went on to bag big roles in movies and television, others simply accepted their fate and moved on. Although their cinematic achievements might not be comparable to their on-field success, there is no denying that these men have spent most of their lives entertaining fans both on and off the field.
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Here are five footballers who turned to acting as a profession.
#1 Stan Collymore
The former Liverpool forward is popular in the media for his off the field antics and has always got himself involved in some or the other kind of controversy during his playing days. This former England international English footballer has a violent history involving crimes against women. Fittingly Collymore made his onscreen debut in the forgettable sequel to the Sharon Stone starred Basic Instinct.
One of the major themes of the movie is sexual violence, and Collymore’s role in the movie was that of a footballer. He only had a few scenes at the beginning of the movie and gets killed off in a car accident after a kinky love making session goes wrong. That killed off his acting career as well as it turned to be his first and last appearance on the big screen.
#2 Ian Wright
Ian Wright is undoubtedly one of the greatest English players to represent the Gunners. He is now a club legend and the second highest goal scorer for the Gunners with 185 goals. After a successful playing career, Ian Wright has managed to replicate the same as a radio and television presenter. Unlike many other footballers, the 51-year-old had productive transition into the media industry and is now among the most popular pundits on television.
Thanks to the success, Wright managed to bag a role in the 2011 flick, ‘Gun of the Black Sun’ in which he played a British gangster. Although the critics labelled the movie as tasteless, thy believed that Wright was the only saving grace of the film.Ian Wright also came close to starring in 2015’s Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens but couldn’t fit the bill because he wasn’t tall enough to play the part of Star trooper.
#3 Eric Cantona
‘King Eric’ as the Manchester United fans popularly call him enjoys a cult status at the club. The big, strong Frenchman was known for guile and hot temper on the field and is credited with rejuvenating the club in his five-year spell at Old Trafford. But what most Manchester United fans might not know is that he is also a successful actor.
The 50-year-old made his acting debut in the Oscar-winning Shekar Kapur film Elizabeth in 1998. He then went on to act in several movies, most of them being French. He also played the role of Corsican in the 2015 movie ‘The Salvation’ which also starred Eva Green and Mads Mikkelsen. 2009 movie ‘Looking for Eric’ is a must watch movie in which he plays a similar role to himself.
#4 Vinnie Jones
There is no denying Vinnie Jones has had the most success in transforming into a professional actor from a professional football player. The Welshman has made more than 350 appearances in the Premier League alone and represented club’s like Leeds United and Chelsea FC during his playing days. His first appearance in a feature film was in the hugely successful 1998 Guy Ritchie film, ‘Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels,' from then on Jones never had to turn back.
He went to appear in several other movies like ‘Snatch,' ‘Mean Machine’ and also played the role of a Marvel supervillain as ‘Juggernaut’ in the 2006 movie, X-Men: The Last Stand. Vinnie Jones is also involved in several upcoming projects including ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ which is a sequel to the 2014 smash hit, Kingsman: The Secret Service.
#5 David Beckham
If there is any footballer out there who deserves a big screen career, then it’s none other than, David Beckham. The Manchester United legend is one of the well-known faces in the world of sports. Soon after tying the knot with a former Spice Girl, Victoria Beckham, David entered a world of glamour and glitz. The handsome footballer had lived in Los Angeles when he played for LA Galaxy and made quite some friends in Hollywood.
With a popular image and beautiful face like his, a debut in movies was not far away as he appeared as himself in ‘Goal’ trilogy. Beckham also made an appearance in the popular British sitcom ‘Only Fools and Horses, but the fact of the matter is he really doesn’t fancy himself as an actor describing himself as “too stiff” for the big screen.
