Film stars and footballer

Tom Lutz and Paolo Bandini
Wednesday October 17, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

'Did someone call for an enigmatic Frenchman?' Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

"We all know about Escape to Victory, Goal and the Allan Simonsen star-vehicle Skytten, but which other films have included 'acting' roles for footballers?" wonders Adrian Ashton. "The more random the better."

Right, despite having more than 30 credits to his name, Vinnie Jones doesn't make the list because he doesn't act so much as play Vinnie Jones in every single turkey he appears in. Then again, Eric Cantona only ever plays an enigmatic Frenchman in his films, but he's appeared in the Oscar-winning Elizabeth - which stomps all over Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties - so he gets the thumbs-up over Vinnie.

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Elsewhere - as well being Match of the Day's host and the eponymous, brooding hero of kids' show Underground Ernie - Gary Lineker starred with his now ex-wife Michelle as 'Couple in Restaurant' in the seminal 1993 comedy Splitting Heirs.

Fellow striker Stan Collymore starred in the bongo-fest that was Basic Insinct 2 as Sharon Stone's boyfriend, although [spoiler alert] poor Stan doesn't even survive past the opening credits. "He is the loveliest, most chivalrous, most charming and most professional person," gushed Stone afterwards. But if you think that appearance was fleeting then Tim Peach has got a zinger of a credit for former Aston Villa striker Julian Joachim. "In Hannibal, there's a scene in a police station where a TV in the background is showing a football game and you get to see a close-up of none other than Julian himself."

North of the border, Ally McCoist, Steve Tosh, Didier Agathe and Owen Coyle appeared alongside Hollywood heavy-hitters Robert Duvall, Brian Cox and Michael Keaton in A Shot at Glory. McCoist is the star striker in Duvall's plucky Scottish side Kilnockie. And who can forget Archie Gemmill's appearance in Trainspotting? His goal from the 1978 World Cup is playing in the background during a scene that ultimately leads to Tommy's drug addiction and death. Still, it's a pretty good goal.

Highbury features in 1939's The Arsenal Stadium Mystery, which was filmed at the Gunners' former home. The plot centres around a player who drops dead during an Arsenal home game, and several players and staff, including Cliff Bastin and manager George Allison, appear as themselves. Other clubs and their players starring in films include Newcastle United (Goal! and Purely Belter), Real Madrid (Goal II) and Sheffield United (When Saturday Comes).

It's not just British-based footballers that have turned their hands to the dramatic arts though. Oliver Alexander tells us that World Cup-winner and former Bayern Munich midfielder Paul Breitner starred as Sergeant Stark in spaghetti western, Potato Fritz. Andrew Shue, brother of Elizabeth, combined both professions, turning out for LA Galaxy while starring in soap opera Melrose Place. The Shue siblings also teamed up earlier this year to produce Gracie, a film based on Elizabeth's experience of playing football in a boys' team when she was growing up.

And, according to Alex Maeder, "former US national and Derby and Sheffield Wednesday player John Harkes starred in 2005's The Game of Their Lives (about the US beating England in the 1950 World Cup). Harkes played one of the US players who was from Scotland, so you got to hear him doing a Scottish accent. He also appeared on an episode of Without a Trace ... he played 'Dude'."