Eric Cantona has enjoyed an ecletic life after retiring from professional football upon leaving Manchester United in 1997. He has captained the France national beach football team, been the director of soccer at New York Cosmos and, what he is now most well-known for, acted in a number of major films and adverts.
Justin Moorhouse, most famous for playing a Manchester City fan in Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights, appeared in the 2009 film Looking for Eric, a sports comedy-drama film directed by Ken Loach and featuring Eric Cantona that follows a middle-aged postman going through difficulties in his life.
For Moorhouse, a Manchester United supporter in real life, appearing in a film with one of his heroes proved surreal - especially with the way he was introduced on set.
What Eric Cantona is like on a film set
"I was so excited to be in it, then Ken [Loach] phoned me one day and said he needed me to keep a secret," Moorhouse exclusively tells FourFourTwo. "I thought he was going to tell me he was a Tory or something!
"He said, 'We’ve got Eric Cantona in the film, but nobody knows he’s in it yet – not even the lead actor, Steve Evets.' Steve didn’t know Eric was in the film until he met him on camera. There’s a point in the film where he goes, 'What the f**k are you doing here?' – that was real!"
"Before shooting started, Ken asked me and John Henshaw to spend some time with Eric, improvising. He was incredible – charisma personified. We were having a cup of tea, Eric pushed a plate of biscuits over and, in his French accent, asked, 'Would you like… a Jammie Dodger?' I said, 'No thank you, Eric.'"
Looking for Eric earned critical acclaim, too. The Cannes Film Festival nominated Ken Loach for a Palme d'Or, the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition. While it didn't win, Moorhouse did get a trip to the south of France.
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" The whole experience was great: we went to Cannes with the film, then they asked me to host the premiere in Salford. I got a Rolls-Royce to take my mum, made a massive fuss of her, hosted the premiere, introduced Eric and Ken, then we watched the film and everybody loved it.
"I sat with my mum, just looking for validation. At the end, I said, 'Well, what did you think?' She said, 'It got better towards the end.' Cheers Mum!"
