David Beckham Pursuing Acting Career?

Retired football star, David Beckham, is embracing his potential as a future actor and is very much willing to see where acting will take him. In fact he is ready for all the criticisms he might get for jumping the ship.

"I am very aware that many sportsmen and other celebrities have turned their hand to acting - and failed," Beckham told The Times in an exclusive interview. He went on, saying that he understands the film industry as being a "tough profession where you need a huge amount of skill and discipline."

While he "wouldn't want to push" himself too soon into acting "without learning more about it, and doing a lot more practice," Beckham already made a cameo in Guy Ritchie's "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." He also has a role in Ritchie's upcoming film, the "Knights Of The Round Table: King Arthur."

Speaking with the Irish Examiner during the film's premiere in August, Ritchie said that Beckham's short appearance in "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." showed that he has a promising career as an actor. So much so, that they cast him again for Arthur where he was "fabulous."

"He's got a bigger role in that," Ritchie said of Beckham's part in Arthur. "We'll go steadily with David and see where that goes. He does enjoy it (acting)," the director added.

Speaking about his role in Arthur, Beckham told The Times that it was "nerve-racking." He had 13 lines and devoted a huge amount of time rehearsing them before actual filming.

"Guy had someone come and rehearse with me, and I did that an hour every day in the build-up. It was nerve-racking delivering the lines, but it actually went really well," he said of his experience.

Beckham thinks that acting and sports are alike in some extent. "The thing about sport is that it gets the heart beating faster. You focus the mind in order to deliver. Acting has a similar feel," he explained.

While Beckham has started transitioning into film, the sports industry is not ready to let go of him yet. In fact, he has just been honored with the Legend of Football Award at the 20^th Anniversary HMV Football Extravaganza, according to a report from the Daily Mail.

Daily Mail noted that in his 20 years with football, Beckham was able to snatch 17 major trophies. The report outlined that Beckham had been awarded the FIFA World Player of the Year twice. He was also the first ever English player to win major titles in England, Spain, the U.S. and France and recorded 115 international appearances as outfield player in the history of the English football. Not to mention that he holds the record as the only Englishman to score in three different World Cups.

Beckham might be making a career shift into acting but he still misses playing football, he told The Times. "I still get these huge pangs of regret that I am not out there anymore. I still think that I would be able to go out there and perform again. I guess that I will still think that when I am 50," Beckham said.