From stadium to silver screen
Posted by on 7 Jan 09 in sport
Sports stars have often made unlikely film stars. Weird isn't it?
Two former professional sportsmen turned actors have been hitting the headlines over the past weeks. With OJ Simpson facing a lengthy spell behind bars and Vinnie Jones nursing cuts and bruises after a reported bar brawl, who else is there who has made, or might be next to make, the move from the sports stadium to the movie set?
Jones is the leader of the pack, having successfully swapped Wimbledon’s Crazy Gang for the Hollywood Hills and roles in over 30 films to date alongside people like Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro and Garfield the cat.
Another Guy Ritchie protégé, Jason Statham, is following hard on his heels. Having first been spotted at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, he now commands over a million dollars a film - his filmography including the $197 million grossing 'Transporter' trilogy, 'Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels', and 'The Italian Job'. Not bad for the former British diver whose previous career highlight was a twelfth place finish in the 1992 World Diving Championships.
Other sportsman to have hit the big screen include the king of Old Trafford, Eric Cantona, in Elizabeth and Oakland Raiders linebacker Carl Weathers who starred in the 'Rocky'
films, 'Happy Gilmour' and 'Predator' where his character had the legendary line “I ain’t got time to bleed.” The Bond films have also been a good source of ex pro-athletes with Vijay Amritraj putting his tennis skills to good use in 'Octopussy' and Olympic weight-lifter Odd Job proving deadly with a bowler-hat in 'Goldfinger'.
But what of the next generation? The new Tolkien film might have some juicy roles for some of our sporting talent. Perhaps miniature diving sensation Tom Daley might be tempted to swap the Olympic rings for one arguably more precious as Bilbo Baggins, with Peter Crouch as one of the tree people and Sebastian Chabal as King of the Orcs.
Who’s to say that Harry Potter’s new love interest might not be teen tennis starlet Laura Robson, alongside the ginger Ron Weasley’s dad Gordon Strachan and Death Eater Carlos Tevez. And if horror is your genre, there’s a certain ex-QPR manager out there whose face might fit the casting bill.
