The untold story of Bend It Like Beckham

“Anyone can cook aloo gobi, but who can bend a ball like Beckham?” It’s a line synonymous with one of the most loved football films of all time. “I went ‘yeah’ but in my head, I was thinking ‘why would you want to do that?’ I was thinking, ‘are people going to want to see that?’ “I think it may have been a year later when a script lands on my doorstep and lo and behold, here was this story and I was like ‘wow, it looks like this is probably going to happen.’” Nagra had one concern, and it wasn’t the fact she had never played football. “All I could think is ‘you’re crazy’.” One of the scenes in the film sees Nagra’s character Jess bending a ball around a washing line. “I remember in the film Jess is surprised when Jules comes over in the park and she’s like, ‘oh you have a proper kit and you have boots,’” says Whipp.