- Title: David Beckham attends 'King Arthur: Legend of the Sword' premiere
- Date: 10th May 2017
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (MAY 10, 2017) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR, GUY RITCHIE, SAYING (about lead actor Charlie Hunnam): "He's really got his head screwed on. He's a very technical actor but also he and I are on the same frequency. I mean this is a frequency thing. If you like the sort of stuff that I do, if you're familiar with it then you'll like this because Charlie runs on his own frequency so there was just a shorthand. When Charlie got chosen for this role it was mainly because of his enthusiasm to do it and then I could tell that he and I were going to get on." ACTOR CHARLIE HUNNAM POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS ON CARPET WITH FANS HUNNAM POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, CHARLIE HUNNAM, SAYING: "Yeah you know he had somebody else in mind and I didn't think that was a good idea and so I demanded I have a cup of tea with him. I flew myself to England and I basically showed up at his front door and said 'listen, we're going to talk about this because I think you might be making a bit of an error here.' And what I hoped would be the response was the response and he thought I was quite cheeky and charming for having such moxy. So somewhere in that first two hour meeting he started to take me seriously and next thing I knew he was asking me to audition and then obviously once I had my foot in the door I did everything I could to get the job." HUNNAM TALKING TO PRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, CHARLIE HUNNAM, SAYING (about times he thought about moving home to England to live with his mother): "Yes. Yeah. Many times. And there was many times I even just fantasized about that. Like it's very difficult to sort of follow ones dreams and er in the dark hours of things not going well. You think 'am I just wasting my time here?' The only reason I wanted to be an actor in the first place was that I love film and I thought it would be a judicious use of my time but then in the dark days where two years in a row go by and you're just waiting for the phone to ring you think 'what the hell am I doing with my life you know?' so you've just got to stick with it."
- Embargoed: 24th May 2017 21:23
- Keywords: Film Charlie Hunnam Guy Ritchie King Arthur movie London Premiere David Beckham Sword
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK & VARIOUS UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK & VARIOUS UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Film
- Reuters ID: LVA0046G9BGB1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Former soccer star David Beckham attended the European premiere of Guy Ritchie's 'King Arthur: Legend of the Sword' in London on Wednesday (May 10, 2017).
The star, who makes his big screen acting debut in the movie, was in good spirits despite many British media outlets criticizing his performance.
Director Ritchie was asked by Reuters if Beckham has the potential to be as good an actor as he was a player and said: "Yeah I love him and I think he's great on screen I find him very talented."
Beckham said it was "nice to be involved" in the project adding "obviously with Guy's movies you know what you're going to get but there's a few surprises, a bit of comedy along the way."
The film revisits the tale of King Arthur and the classic Excalibur myth. Part of the challenge for Ritchie was reworking the tale in his own style.
"If you're just doing a retelling of everything we're familiar with I'm not sure who's going to want to see it. So I'm not sure if it's for the over 60's but the idea is that it's for a generation that likes their entertainment to rattle along," he said.
Actor Charlie Hunnam, of Sons of Anarchy fame, takes the lead role of Arthur. He had to convince Ritchie to give him the role.
"He had somebody else in mind and I didn't think that was a good idea and so I demanded I have a cup of tea with him. I flew myself to England and I basically showed up at his front door and said 'listen, we're going to talk about this because I think you might be making a bit of an error here' ... once I had my foot in the door I did everything I could to get the job," said Hunnam.
The film also stars actors Jude Law, Djimon Hounsou and model Poppy Delevingne (sister of model Cara Delevingne), made her acting debut. She said her famous sibling helped her with her new career.
"She's been really really supportive and obviously she's done a lot more than in terms of the acting world and so she gives me so much advice and you know I really value that from her but it's weird because like I'm 31 now and I feel like I'm starting a brand new job and so it's all just very alien to me and I feel like a total novice."
'King Arthur: Legend of the Sword' is in cinemas from May 12, 2017. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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