King Arthur premiere: David Beckham says he doesn't want to be an actor as Victoria tweets her pride

Beckham said director Guy Ritchie threw him in at the deep end
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Emma Powell10 May 2017
The Weekender

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David Beckham said he has no plans to make it big on the silver screen as he stepped out for the premiere of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.

The former footballer, 42, plays Trigger in the Guy Ritchie directed film which follows Arthur (Charlie Hunnam) as he attempts to defeat the tyrant Vortigern (Philip Ball) and take back the crown.

Beckham said he enjoys the “challenge” of trying his hand at acting – but has no plans to take it up full time.

“I haven’t taken a step into acting,” he told Edith Bowman at the London premiere. “It’s me doing something I love with a friend. It’s not a new career or something I want to go into.

Support: Brooklyn Beckham stepped out to accompany his father David
Dave Benett

“I’ve always liked a challenge, and usually it’s to do with sport, but with this I didn’t know if I was going to be OK.”

Beckham – who worked with Ritchie on Man from U.N.C.L.E – said he was overcome with nerves after Ritchie threw him in at the deep end by forcing him to perform in front of hundreds of people on set.

Got the blues: Poppy Delevingne attends her first premiere as an actress
Dave Benett

“When I did Man from U.N.C.L.E Ritchie said ‘it will be small and I’ll make you look ugly’,” he said. “With this he said ‘you’ll have a few more lines’ and then he put me in the middle of about 150 people and made me shout at Charlie. I was in make up for two and a half hours then I stepped on set and he went ‘action’. I was like ‘what? Now?’

“It was daunting, but Charlie was great and he gave me guidelines. Guy is scary as a boss, but he’s a friend so you know he’s going to take care of you.”

Date night: Guy Ritchie was joined by his wife Jacqui Ainsley 
Dave Benett

Victoria tweeted her pride at her husband – whose acting skills were criticised by Piers Morgan – as he hit the red carpet. She shared a clip of her man in action in the film alongside the caption: “So proud of David! @kingarthurmovie x VB #KingArthur.”

Leading man Hunnam was also in attendance at the star-studded premiere, which marked his first in Leicester Square.

Hunnam said bagging the role of Arthur was particularly significant for him as Excalibur had inspired him to seek a career in film.

Speaking about the 1981 hit, he said: “Excalibur was my favourite film as a child. I’ve probably watched it 50 times. It was how I got into the logistics of film making. I spent a lot of time in the back alleys with my play sword, so to be hired by Guy Ritchie was significant to me.”

He said Ritchie was a “wonderful” director – but that he panicked about his laid-back attitude ahead of filming.

“It was a steep learning curve for me because Guy is sensational at working in real time, but he’s equally bad at doing any preparation,” he said. “He’d be like ‘don’t worry about that mate we’ll figure it out on the day’. But it pushed me to be fluid. The one mandate he gave me early on was to have fun together. That was wonderful.”

Aiden Gillen who plays Goosefat Bill, Craig McGinlay who plays Percival and Poppy Delevingne, who plays Igraine were also in attendance.

The film marks Delevingne’s acting debut, and unlike Beckham, she is keen to make a career out of it.

She said: “I don’t really believe this is happening. It’s my first movie so it was nerve wracking to begin with. Guy was so supportive. Everyone was so kind. This is the future and I'm working really hard at it.”

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is slated for UK cinema release on May 19.

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