Keira Knightley teases what role she’d like in Bend It Like Beckham sequel

Keira Knightley has declared what role she’d like to take on in the upcoming Bend It Like Beckham sequel.

In 2002 the sports-comedy drama hit screens and was a break-out hit, being praised by fans who called it ‘one of the greatest movies ever’, while it also grossed $76.6 million (£56.8million) at the box office.

It followed British Indian girl Jesminder Bhamra (Parminder Nagra), who despite the disapproval of her family, has dreams of becoming a professional footballer like her idol, David Beckham.

In the process of pursuing this goal, she befriends Jules (Keira) and coach Joe (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).

After years of fans begging for a follow-up, director Gurinder Chadha first discussed the potential of a sequel two years ago following the success of the Lioness’ at the 2023 World Cup, in which they reached the final.

Then, in August this year, she confirmed a sequel was in the works, telling Deadline: ‘I’m excited to revisit the original characters and revive the enduring story and build on the legacy we helped to create for the women’s game.’

A few weeks later, when promoting her upcoming Netflix film The Woman in Cabin 10, Keira spoke about discovering the film, in which she rose to fame, was returning.

‘I mean I saw that on television as well! And I thought “my goodness, that’s exciting!”,’ she told Metro.

‘But I have no news about it.’

Director Simon Stone, who was behind the camera for the upcoming Netflix thriller, then suggested an idea.

‘You should be the coach!’ he declared.

Reacting to his idea, she responded by saying: ‘Obviously I’ve got to be the coach.’

The two then mentioned Meyer’s previously being at the helm of the team, but joked it was now Jules’ time to step up.

‘That’s it! We are done!,’ she declared while laughing.

Speaking to Vogue, Keira also said that she and Parminder did suspect at the time of filming the original that Jules and Jess ‘were obviously a couple’.

Throwing out ideas for where they could be in the sequel if it turned out the pair did get together, she considered: ‘Are they together? Maybe they’ve split up and they get back together? I mean, who knows – 25 years is a long time, there’s so much that could have happened.’

In August Chadha told the BBC: ‘We’ve been part of changing the game for women, so it felt like this was a good time for me to go back and investigate the characters.’

She also explained that Parminder, Keira Archie Panjabi, Juliet Stevenson and other members of the original cast were ‘aware that a sequel is being developed, but they obviously want to see a script before they commit’.

‘I’m pretty certain that everyone’s going to want to come back,’ she went on.

‘Everything hinges on the script and if the original cast likes it. I am working really hard to make sure every character I bring back has a decent arc and scenes.’

The filmmaker then explained that she previously didn’t want to revisit the movie as she ‘didn’t have a story’.

‘And then I came up with a great story, really super-cool story. So now I’m inspired. Literally came up with it just about a month ago. It’s my very clear wish to bring the characters back very, very soon. Women’s football is more competitive, more exciting, and more global than ever. It is an honour for me to be a small part of it.’

She is aiming to have the movie ready for release by 2027 to mark the 25th anniversary of Bend it Like Beckham’s premiere, as well as the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament being held in Brazil.

At the time of Bend It Like Beckham’s release, Keira was just 17, with the movie marking her breakthrough. She went on to star in other films including Love Actually, the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, Pride & Prejudice, Atonement and Anna Karenina.

She will next play journalist Lo Blacklock in The Woman in Cabin 10. Released later this week and based on Ruth Ware’s novel of the same name, the film follows Lo in the aftermath of witnessing a woman thrown overboard a luxury yacht while on travel assignment.

Despite no one believing her, she continues to look for answers, putting her own life in danger.

The movie also stars Guy Pearce, David Ajala, Art Malik, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Kaya Scodelario, David Morrissey, Daniel Ings and Hannah Waddingham.

The Woman in Cabin 10 is airing from Thursday on Netflix.