David Beckham to Take up Acting Next?

His soccer career might be past its prime, but David Beckham sees a new career on the horizon- and it doesn't necessarily involve a ball.

"I know how difficult it is going to be because I have seen other players struggle with LIFE AFTER football. This has been my life for almost as long as I can remember," he says on the transition. "I can't get my head around what it will be like not to be training, to have matches, to have ambitions in the game. But it has to stop at some point: I have to accept that."

He says he has decided to try acting, but he knows it will not be an easy feat.

"I know that it is a tough profession, where you need a huge amount of skill and discipline, and I wouldn't want to push myself forward too soon, without learning more about it, and doing a lot more practice," says Beckham.

Beckham did not specify screen versus stage acting, but he did reference his brief previous experience, which has all been on screen.

Beckham is, however, aware that he is not the first sports player to turn to acting, and that in reality, many of them have not been successful. "I am very aware that many sportsmen and other celebrities have turned their hand to acting and failed."

Still, he is optimistic, saying, "But what I have done so far, I have loved. I can deal with most things. I am a well-known person, so I have got used to criticism."

In acting experience, Beckham never personally appeared in the 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham, except in archive footage. He and his wife wanted to make cameo appearances, but scheduling proved difficult, so the director used lookalike Andy Harmer instead.

Beckham makes a cameo appearance with Zinedine Zidane and Raúl, in the 2005 film Goal!: The Dream Begins. Lookalike Andy Harmer, who played him in Bend It Like Beckham, also appears here in one party scene as Beckham. Beckham himself appears in the sequel Goal! 2: Living the Dream... in a larger role, when the film's lead character gets transferred to Real Madrid. This time the story centres on the Real Madrid team, and besides Beckham, other real life Real Madrid players also appear on and off the pitch, alongside the fictional characters. Beckham appeared in Goal! 3: Taking on the World, which was released straight to DVD on 15 June 2009. Despite moving to Los Angeles, California, Beckham has expressed no personal interest in pursuit of acting roles, saying he is too "stiff".

Source: The Times

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