INTERVIEW: footballer and actor Eric Cantona

Ken Loach has been directing films for 40 years: what was the first film of his you saw?

The first one was Carla’s Song, but after I saw many of them.

And you came to Ken with the idea for Looking For Eric, is that right?

I went to see a French production company first, Why Not, and they used to work with [film sales company] Wild Bunch, so all together, all passionate about football and cinema, we put one name at the top and it was Ken Loach.

Why did you want to work with Ken Loach?

Why? Because Ken Loach is one of the best directors in the world. Of all time. For this film, when I met with the French co-producers, Pascal Caucheteux from Why Not and Vincent Maraval from Wild Bunch, we all agreed it needs to be an English director, because the film is about the relationship I had with the fans in England. Also, he had to be a football fan to understand - somebody who had lived this kind of feeling, experienced it.

How did the idea develop?

I had this idea about a real fan who had followed me from Leeds to Manchester United, left his home and family to follow me. Paul Laverty (Ken Loach’s long term writer) spent some time with me in Paris. He met some fans and did a lot of work on the ground. That was important for the script. He bred his own story which is a great story. We received it and read it and we loved it - we have been very very lucky throughout the whole process

How was it being back in Manchester?

It was nice to be back. I love the people there. That never fades, or not from my side, no. It seems to be always the same.

How did you get on with Steve Evets?

I love him. Ken Loach is great in many ways, but the way he chooses people - he sees things inside. He meets someone and he knows that he will be the man to play this character. SO Steve is perfect for Eric Bishop.

When Steve first saw me in his bedroom, up to that point he had no idea I was actually going to be in the movie. Ken hid me behind a drape and then I spoke and Steve turned round - that was a special moment. It was a real reaction.

But again, that's where Ken Loach is so great. I'm sure if the actor reads the script and it says, ‘You will meet at this moment your idol’ I'm sure he would have not played it like he did. This way it was a real reaction. He looked like he had seen a phantom. It is very difficult to pretend, or to fake, surprise.

Do you feel as confident in front of the camera as you did when you when you went out on the pitch at Old Trafford?

Yes. Not at the beginning. The first year, I thought I didn’t have to work a lot. When I was on set, I felt I didn’t have to work, I just had to be there – that’s enough!

When I was there, I didn’t feel very comfortable, because you have to have an answer for every question, very quickly. You have to have a sense of anticipation. I realised seven years ago that I have to work very hard! You work and you find the freedom and with the freedom you find the pleasure to be there. And I worked hard and now I feel comfortable. I don’t know if I am good! That is not the question. I feel comfortable.

So you have to train hard, the same as you did as a footballer: it’s all about the preparation?

Yes. But there is a different kind of preparation. You have to find the way to prepare yourself as you are. Me, I need to work. When I was a player I needed to work a lot, in training. I played as I trained in the week.

In the cinema, it is the same: to work, to be confident, to find the freedom. But we are all different. I don’t know in England, but some French actors don’t want to read the script, don’t want to work – or it’s their own way to work. It’s how they feel the freedom, the confidence. We are all different – we have to find the right way to work for each other.

It’s an unstable profession, acting – the same as football. What did you parents think when you first set out to become a footballer?

My parents have been very good, I think. Yeah. They gave me the freedom. When I went to Auxerre [Cantona’s first club], it was 700 kilometres from home and my parents accepted it, ‘You want that? Very good’. But for them it was difficult, especially my mother. But they have given me the base, a very good education, a lot of love. Now it’s the same: we go, have a picnic with the kids. Nothing special. Small things. A delight in small things.

What do your parents make of the film? Have they seen it?

Not yet. It will be very difficult for them, I think. Emotional, I am sure. Definitely.

You were one of the Premiership’s first iconic foreign players. Do you think there should be a limit to the number of foreign footballers playing for English clubs?

Yeah, I think so. For the foreigners? I think so. [Manchester United manager] Alex Ferguson found the mix between foreigners and young players. He found the mix. The other one… I think it is bad for English football. It is bad for the national team. Maybe in the future it will be worse than today. Because today you still have the players from five or 10 years ago – my time; it was different. The players still play today.

But in the future, in 10 or 15 years? Where are the young players now? English young players? Nowhere. Every club they play for has foreigners: small clubs, big clubs, everywhere. I think it will be a big problem for the national team in the future.

Ken is a big fan of Bath City: did you feel how much he understood football?

Yes, only somebody who is a fan of football can direct this kind of movie. Sometimes too many directors do a subject they don’t know. Sometimes you see directors make a movie about the mafia, they don’t know anything – never met anybody! How can they figure to be sucked in – to understand the people, to show something special, emotionally to go inside the people? Like this movie – for the fans. Only people who know what being a fan of football is can do this kind of job, I think.

Do you think some people will change their opinion of you once they have seen this film?

Me, I don't really care. I want them to like the film as much as we like it. But the judgement they have on me I don't care. I want to be myself, that's it. In this film if they think it's me, that's good.