UNITED KINGDOM: Fancy footwork in football film "Goal" belongs to body double

Cinema screens around the world are set to feature Colin Nell's football skills, but few members of the audience will recognise them as his. Nell, a football freestyler, is the man behind the fancy footwork in the movie Goal! "Being able to work with professionals and people who are sort of the best at what they do, was amazing and, to use my skills. So, it was great," Nell said of his big screen debut where he plays the body and football skills double of lead actor Kuno Becker. Nell first made a name for himself as an accomplished athlete and football freestyler before becoming an actor and sports model, featured regularly in Nike promotions. "Goal!" hope to score big in the U.S. market with its rags-to-riches tale of Santiago Munez, played by Becker, who grows up in poverty in Los Angeles where he plays local football and is spotted by a retired British scout. The story kicks off with 10-year-old Munez crossing the border between Mexico and the United States, carrying a football and a picture of the World Cup. Ten years later he is working for his father in a Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles and spending all his spare time playing soccer until he is spotted and finds success. "It was cool because I learned things off him. And, he also learned some things off me but it was good because we had to work closely together in order for him to pick up some of the moves of some of the skills that I was trying to teach him," Nell said. Whether it's juggling soccer balls, tennis balls, or golf balls, Nell is happy to show-off his handling skills whether it's for friends or filmmakers. He says his love for the game started at the age of six, and by 12 he was practising his skills so often the freestyling just came naturally. Today, he practices about two to three hours each day and says the persistence has paid off, opening several doors. "Freestyle is an industry of its own. It stands alone. It's sort of fun to watch that you can use in many different industries such as films, commercials, photo-shoots, live performances, half-time shows," he says. The first instalment of a $100-million (56.3 million pounds) Goal! trilogy goes on general release this weekend, and what it lacks in star power its makers believe will be made up for by rare access to clubs and players to give it unmatched authenticity. In the second instalment of the trilogy, Munez gets transferred to the giant Spanish club Real Madrid, perhaps the most famous and successful team in the world. In the final film, slated to shoot next summer, he will play for his national team (the identity of which is yet to be revealed) in the 2006 World Cup finals, which take place in Germany. Nell says he'd like to take on a bigger role in the forthcoming films and hopes to work as an actor in other film and television roles one day. "I hope to step this up and to move closer into the camera, away from just being a skills double," he says. Critics, however, are far from certain that "Goal!" will perform in the United States, despite a storyline that sounds like it was written for Hollywood. Where it stands out from other soccer movies is the action set in and around St. James' Park, the 52,000-seater stadium of English club Newcastle United. Action from real games is interspersed with scenes played by actors to give viewers something of the sense of real-life excitement in the stands. Cameos from the likes of Alan Shearer, David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane plus the splicing of Premiership games with footage of the actors filmed close-up conveys the FIFA, world football's governing body, has backed the film, seeing it as a way to help win over America to the "other" game of football. The movie is out on general release this weekend in the UK, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Romania, Iceland, Israel, Norway and Portugal. It will be released in other European nations, including France, Italy and Spain, later in October.

ITN Source | October 6, 2005

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