gmb45
4th June, 2009, 06:14 AM
FLAMBOYANT, charming, funny, possibly just a little bit bonkers ? there really is only one Eric Cantona.
No other football star would issue the statement: ?Yes, I?ve got a part of femininity in my brain? in a deliberately deep voice while raising a huge eyebrow.
Once the sound ringing in his ears was adoring fans chanting ?Ooh Aah Cantona? as he put defenders to the sword.
But now, with a trumpet in his hand instead of a ball at his feet, his life has a new soundtrack.
Welcome back then, Eric, to a different theatre of dreams ? the cinema.
Manchester United legend Cantona plays himself in Looking For Eric, an uplifting new movie about a Manchester postie, also called Eric, who receives life skills coaching from his football hero.
Talking to The Sun about his role, the enigmatic Frenchman says: ?As you see in the film, I like to pass, like in life.
?I prefer to give a gift than to receive. I love to receive a gift, to score of course ? but when you give the ball to somebody you want to give the perfect ball.
?You want to give the ball that you would love to receive.?
It?s an image to conjure with from the cod philosopher who once famously bemused a Press conference with his quotes about the seagulls following a trawler.
Getting a straight answer from the 43-year-old soccer star-turned-actor is never easy, but he makes a stab at explaining how important the team ethic is to him.
?I come from a large family, a very strong family,? he says. ?My family and friendships are very important to me. It?s essential for me to have these people around me.
?If I?m happy in my real life I can do this job, I can play football without the pressure and I don?t depend on the system."
Cantona?s support network includes actress wife Rachida Brakni, 32, whom he met six years ago when they starred in drama The Over-Eater.
They married in 2007.
?I work a lot with my wife and she coached me very well,? he says: ?She gave me the confidence to enjoy it when I?m on the set, which is the most important thing.?
It is 12 years since Cantona quit top-flight footie but he is still in good shape, having kept himself fit through his involvement in beach football.
?I don?t feel very comfortable or well in my body to be fat and to drink,? he explains. ?I like to drink sometimes, of course, and I like to eat.
?But I try to find a balance. It?s not for anyone else, it?s for myself.
?Now I cycle a lot, but I don?t think I will beat a world record.?
In one scene in Looking For Eric, which opens in cinemas on June 12, Eric the postman ? played by Steve Evets ? asks Eric the footballer to play the trumpet.
In real life, Cantona learned the instrument while he was banned from playing as a punishment for his infamous kung fu kick on an abusive Crystal Palace supporter.
He reveals: ?When I was suspended I had to train much more than other people as I couldn?t play any matches, but I decided I should also do something different, more focused, and I took up the trumpet.
?If I do have idols, they?d be Miles Davis and Chet Baker, but I only learned for a couple of months so I can?t play that well. I?ll come back to it one day.
?If I find I lose my current passion for cinema I?ll try my hand at something else like jazz."
The star tried his best to forget about football when he retired. He says: ?In the beginning I didn?t want to watch the game because it was too difficult. The urge to play football is very strong.
?After living with all that adrenalin, it?s like a love story ? when you break up with somebody, you don?t want to see her because it reminds you of a lot of things.
?It was even more difficult because it was such a very strong love story I had with football, so I wanted to have new goals and ambitions and not go back to my past.
?It?s very difficult physiologically because the adrenalin is very strong. So for two years it was very difficult not to have this kind of injection. It?s like when I go to a casino ? I don?t want to know if I will win or lose. I want to feel that excitement, it?s why I go.
?I want to live real things, real excitement. That was why I dream of it. In England I thought everybody was honest around the football, the fans the players... ?
Eric also pays tribute to his old Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who he compares to Looking For Eric director Ken Loach.
?They are two humble people who got me to give every bit of myself and who bring out the best in everyone.?
Many people were surprised to see Loach, a British movie heavyweight known for political dramas such as The Wind That Shakes The Barley and Land And Freedom, working with a celebrity.
And it was Cantona, who is part-owner of a production company, who approached the director with the idea of a film about one of his obsessed fans.
But Loach?s regular script writer, Paul Laverty, came up with the Looking For Eric story, in which the Frenchman appears as a figment of the other Eric?s imagination.
Cantona, who also appeared in Elizabeth and French Film, was apprehensive about playing himself.
He says: ?I felt a lot of pressure with this shooting and I hadn?t experienced that when playing another character.
?It?s very important to have pleasure when you?re in a film.
?I talked a lot with Ken beforehand as I needed to feel confident.?
The film was well received at the recent Cannes festival and should make people who laughed at the idea of the football star becoming a film star think again.
But Eric doesn?t mind, as he concludes: ?I like to laugh at myself. Humour is a good weapon."
No other football star would issue the statement: ?Yes, I?ve got a part of femininity in my brain? in a deliberately deep voice while raising a huge eyebrow.
Once the sound ringing in his ears was adoring fans chanting ?Ooh Aah Cantona? as he put defenders to the sword.
But now, with a trumpet in his hand instead of a ball at his feet, his life has a new soundtrack.
Welcome back then, Eric, to a different theatre of dreams ? the cinema.
Manchester United legend Cantona plays himself in Looking For Eric, an uplifting new movie about a Manchester postie, also called Eric, who receives life skills coaching from his football hero.
Talking to The Sun about his role, the enigmatic Frenchman says: ?As you see in the film, I like to pass, like in life.
?I prefer to give a gift than to receive. I love to receive a gift, to score of course ? but when you give the ball to somebody you want to give the perfect ball.
?You want to give the ball that you would love to receive.?
It?s an image to conjure with from the cod philosopher who once famously bemused a Press conference with his quotes about the seagulls following a trawler.
Getting a straight answer from the 43-year-old soccer star-turned-actor is never easy, but he makes a stab at explaining how important the team ethic is to him.
?I come from a large family, a very strong family,? he says. ?My family and friendships are very important to me. It?s essential for me to have these people around me.
?If I?m happy in my real life I can do this job, I can play football without the pressure and I don?t depend on the system."
Cantona?s support network includes actress wife Rachida Brakni, 32, whom he met six years ago when they starred in drama The Over-Eater.
They married in 2007.
?I work a lot with my wife and she coached me very well,? he says: ?She gave me the confidence to enjoy it when I?m on the set, which is the most important thing.?
It is 12 years since Cantona quit top-flight footie but he is still in good shape, having kept himself fit through his involvement in beach football.
?I don?t feel very comfortable or well in my body to be fat and to drink,? he explains. ?I like to drink sometimes, of course, and I like to eat.
?But I try to find a balance. It?s not for anyone else, it?s for myself.
?Now I cycle a lot, but I don?t think I will beat a world record.?
In one scene in Looking For Eric, which opens in cinemas on June 12, Eric the postman ? played by Steve Evets ? asks Eric the footballer to play the trumpet.
In real life, Cantona learned the instrument while he was banned from playing as a punishment for his infamous kung fu kick on an abusive Crystal Palace supporter.
He reveals: ?When I was suspended I had to train much more than other people as I couldn?t play any matches, but I decided I should also do something different, more focused, and I took up the trumpet.
?If I do have idols, they?d be Miles Davis and Chet Baker, but I only learned for a couple of months so I can?t play that well. I?ll come back to it one day.
?If I find I lose my current passion for cinema I?ll try my hand at something else like jazz."
The star tried his best to forget about football when he retired. He says: ?In the beginning I didn?t want to watch the game because it was too difficult. The urge to play football is very strong.
?After living with all that adrenalin, it?s like a love story ? when you break up with somebody, you don?t want to see her because it reminds you of a lot of things.
?It was even more difficult because it was such a very strong love story I had with football, so I wanted to have new goals and ambitions and not go back to my past.
?It?s very difficult physiologically because the adrenalin is very strong. So for two years it was very difficult not to have this kind of injection. It?s like when I go to a casino ? I don?t want to know if I will win or lose. I want to feel that excitement, it?s why I go.
?I want to live real things, real excitement. That was why I dream of it. In England I thought everybody was honest around the football, the fans the players... ?
Eric also pays tribute to his old Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who he compares to Looking For Eric director Ken Loach.
?They are two humble people who got me to give every bit of myself and who bring out the best in everyone.?
Many people were surprised to see Loach, a British movie heavyweight known for political dramas such as The Wind That Shakes The Barley and Land And Freedom, working with a celebrity.
And it was Cantona, who is part-owner of a production company, who approached the director with the idea of a film about one of his obsessed fans.
But Loach?s regular script writer, Paul Laverty, came up with the Looking For Eric story, in which the Frenchman appears as a figment of the other Eric?s imagination.
Cantona, who also appeared in Elizabeth and French Film, was apprehensive about playing himself.
He says: ?I felt a lot of pressure with this shooting and I hadn?t experienced that when playing another character.
?It?s very important to have pleasure when you?re in a film.
?I talked a lot with Ken beforehand as I needed to feel confident.?
The film was well received at the recent Cannes festival and should make people who laughed at the idea of the football star becoming a film star think again.
But Eric doesn?t mind, as he concludes: ?I like to laugh at myself. Humour is a good weapon."