Film: "Bend It Like Beckham"
With Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley
Actors
Friday, April 4, 2003; 3:30 p.m. ET
In the new film "Bend It Like Beckham," color and culture clash as an Indian family in London tries to raise their soccer-playing daughter in a traditional way. Jess’s (Parminder Nagra) dream is to play soccer professionally like her hero David Beckham. Wholeheartedly against Jess’s unorthodox ambition, her parents eventually reveal that their reservations have more to do with protecting her than with holding her back. When Jess is forced to make a choice between tradition and her beloved sport, her family must decide whether to let her chase her dream -- and a soccer ball.
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Keira Knightley
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Actor and star of "Bend It Like Beckham," Parminder Nagra, will be online Friday, April 4 at 3:30 p.m. ET, to discuss the movie and their appearance at Saturday's opening of the Washington Freedom season (see information below).
Submit your questions and comments before or during today's discussion.
Nagra and Knightley, will be in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, April 12 to participate in the Washington Freedom's season opening game festivities. They will be signing autograph during halftime at Gate A from approximately 7:50 p.m. - 8:05 p.m. and immediately following the game with the Washington Freedom players.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Washington, D.C.:
Hi Parminder and Keira,
I saw the movie last year in England and really enjoyed it. Being a first generation Indian raised in America, there were so many things in the movie that hit close to home. Parminder: how supportive has your family been with your choice to be an actress? Keira: was there anything surprising about the Indian community that you learned through your experience in making the movie? Keep up the great work.
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Parminder: It wasn't cut and dried with me wanting to be an actress. It kind of came out when I was 18 when I did my first professional show in my home town. I kind of fell into it. It was a drama teacher in my senior school. It was more of a natural progression rather than me choosing. I think they thought it was going to be a little phase, but it lasted about 10 years.
Keira: Well gosh, I think, it was an amazing experience and to be able to be part of a different culture is really fascinating. I'd never heard punjabi spoken before and Parminder speaks it. It was amazing being on an English set where there was another language being spoken often. We had the huge Bollywood star on the film and Nipam was getting surrounded all the time by lots of people and to realize the scale of his fame.
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: That was a great question. It threw me.
Northern Virginia:
You may not know this but this area has a huge Indian population and many of our girls are going through situations like the ones Jess faced in the movie. Are you conscious of being a role model? I appreciated seeing the question of combining cultures and finding one's way in an immigrant family treated with such respect and affection. It's a tribute to the acting and writing and directing that Jess could understand both sides and insist on living her life with integrity in both cultures. I thought the treatment of the parents was very sympathetic as well.
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Keira: I think it's the characters that are role models, not the actors. Both Jess and Jules are incredibly strong, vibrant characters. I think as far as me and Parminder being role models, I don't think we are, personally and I wouldn't presume to be one.
Parminder: I think that was a really well described comment on the movie.
Alexandria, Va.:
Just saw your movie and loved it! What sets it apart from other culture-clash flicks is the acting: Everyone seemed so real, and the film made it possible to laugh at everyone's quirks while still respecting them. Even Pinky was sympathetic by the end! You positively glowed on-screen. Was the relationship among the actors as warm as it appeared in the credits? And are Jess's life and conflicts a reflection of your own at all?
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Parminder: It's culture integration, not culture-clash. It's not actually two cultures coming together like -- Jess is part of both of those cultures, not one or the other. She's somebody who is part of both. She's very much a British girl, like me, yet I also have the opportunity to be part of my culture. I'd never been to India till this year.
Keira: It was. That's one thing you can't lie about in the film. If the chemistry isn't there, it's obvious. We were fortunate enough to be surrounded by great people. Gurinder allowed a very free set. We were allowed to play with the material. She asked for our creative input.
Parminder: She could always have a bit of a strop though.
Washington, D.C.:
How much training did you have to go through in order to play your soccer scenes convincingly? You both looked like you were excellent players.
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Keira: We did 2 1/2 months before the film and trained during the shooting period. It appears to be quite a lot, but to get to the standard we were meant to be at, that's actually a very short time. We both felt the pressure of doing that.
Parminder: I like watching soccer. Today we were at a bit of a kick about, that's nice to do.
Washington, D.C.:
Do you plan on doing any Hindi films or shooting anything with American directors?
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Parminder: I'd like to do all sorts of things really. Anything that has good characters is fantastic -- Europe, India, Hollywood. I know Keira has a dying passion to be in a Bollywood movie.
Keira: I'm the same as her. Wherever the work is good, it doesn't matter where it is. I just worked with an American director on "Pirates of the Caribbean."
Germantown, Md.:
I am very enthusiastic about seeing BILB. I enjoy Anglo-Indian cultural conflict films like "Bhaji" and "East is East." But this film has football and I've been a Man United fan since I was a lad.
Parminder, can you really bend it like Becks and what does he think of the film?
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Parminder: I did bend it like Beckham, I'm very proud to say it. There was a lot of pressure on me to do that. I hurt my foot at the beginning of training, but as my confidence grew, I got the ball and it was a great satisfaction. There's a scene between washing posts and I did it. The first two takes it didn't work and had the crew jumping up. And yes, Becks did see it and loved it, said well done.
Potomac, Md.:
Parminder: Hi. You and your co-star are beautiful! How old are you guys, and do you have boyfriends? And did you guys really play soccer before filming, or did you learn the game for the movie? Thanks.
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Keira: I'm 18 and I'm not going to answer that cheeky sod.
Parminder: I'm 27 and I'm concentrating on my work. But if you're good-looking send your picture in.
Washington, DC:
I saw the movie last week and LOVED it. You both were fantastic!
Parminder, is that scar on your leg real or is it "movie magic"? I figured since it did not play a huge part of the movie it was real (and they would not have gone through the trouble of makeup since it did not play huge part.)
You guys rock! And thanks for introducing me to "laters." It's the new saying in my house!
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Parminder: Yes it is real. I got burned when I was seven and it was my uncle who saved me, not my sister. Before we started shooting I spoke to Gurinder about the scar and that there is another actress in England who has a huge burn and never has it mentioned. But she incorporated it into the script and I thought it was really nice that it was touched on. So another example of her having that creative dialogue with us. I liked that scene.
Fairfax, Va.:
Welcome, we loved the film!
Tell us how you had the energy to cover such a wide range of topics -- cross-cultures, sexism, coming-of-age, romantic triangle, etc. It was amazing that so many themes were packed into one movie, without it feeling overstuffed.
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Keira: The writers did an amazing job. It's a film with so many different layers. You never feel you're being preached at. That was important to us and there were messages we all wanted to get across, but didn't want to shove the issues on the audience.
Parminder: And that's life. It's complicated.
Bethesda, Md.:
Hello Ladies!
Enjoyed the film quite a bit. One question, Arsenal or United down the stretch?
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: WE don't know.
Keira: I'm a west-ham girl. I don't like either team. When Beckham is playing for England I'm supporting. When playing for Manchester he's the enemy.
Parminder: I'm ambivalent.
Arlington, Va.:
Soccer seems to fasted growing sport for women in the U.S. Has the sport caught on as strongly for European women? Who has the best teams in the world?
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Keira: the rest of Europe is soccer crazy and yet the only professional team we had has gone semi-pro because there wasn't the support. There are women wanting to play as a hobby because they don't have the opportunity to play it professionally. I think it's disgusting we don't have it if that's our calling. What's even more amazing, some of the owners of the top pro clubs in Britain have said they will not have pro women's soccer.
Confusionland:
What is a bit of a strop?
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Parminder: To be in a mood. Huffy. Moody.
Washington, D.C.:
Just wanted to say that four of us -- two middle-aged couples who neither played soccer nor had children who did -- saw the movie a few weeks ago and loved it.
I loved the father/daughter scenes, the tension between the two girls over the coach as a love interest, the relevance of the father's pain in regard to his own sports history.
Great work -- and you looked fabulous!
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Thank you.
Reston, Va.:
Are you surprised at the film's success? I mean it seems like I first read about the movie a while back and was kind of intrigued, but now the film is everywhere and EVERYONE is talking about it. Another "Greek Wedding" perhaps?
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Keira: I think we hope its another "Greek Wedding." Towards the end of the filming I thought it would be doing well, but not this well.
Parminder: Yes, to be still talking about it after two years.
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Keira: It also shows it has a universal appeal.
One for Keira:
You are both gorgeous and talented, but Keira -- girl, you are also FIERCE. Are you that intense in real life? Sexy and a little scary, too.
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Keira: That is brilliant! I don't what to say, I'm positively blushing. I'm not that scary.
Parminder: She is. (laughing) She's a sweetheart, she really is. No, she's horrible.
Keira: I don't think I'm exactly like that. I've never got stroppy with a mate over fancying the same person I did. But I'm not quite that intense.
Washington, D.C.:
Keira --
What was it like acting with Juliet Stevenson? She seemed to really relish playing her character and played it to the hilt. Are you working on any projects right now?
Parminder: Are you going to be a part of Gurinder Chawda's "Pride and Prejudice"? What's it like for actors of Indian descent in the UK? Is it hard breaking into the business?
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Keira: It was absolutely amazing. I've been asked quite a lot if I was scared working with her and and I wasn't because I was so intrigued with her and the part. I had the most fun with her because the scenes we were doing together were so funny. We improvised a lot.
I've got "Pirates of the Caribbean" on July 9. A two-part TV drama "Dr. Zhivago." A film called "Pure" And a film at Christmas called, "Love, Actually."
Parminder: No, she won't work with me. She dumped man. I think it can be difficult. You've got one project going on that's cross-cultural you've got every Indian actor and his dog going up for it. I think it's changed a lot, but not enough. People have been writing and producing a lot more work. People are taking more of a risk. And then hopefully you'll have even more and more. All these recent films proves they can be successful. So I hope we don't get that "quota" for the year treatment. A good story is a good story. People think you have to have to have a cultural tag.
Movie Moms:
I thought it was interesting that both mothers were so over-the-top and still believable. (I'm like Jules and my mum's like her mum, so I know what I'm talking about!) Did they constantly crack you up on the set, or what?
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Keira: Ya, they did in a way. When we did the read-through, which are normally boring, it was incredible. Both the mums made everybody wet themselves laughing. On set it was exactly the same. What's incredible, and my favorite part of the film, we never hate either of the mothers and we could. It's never simplified. Anything they do is done out of love and we see that. Seeing Jules' mom, she even seems homophobic and you still don't hate her. But there's always discussion in the film. To have those discussions means you see both sides of the argument.
Parminder: I've known Shaheen, who played my mom, for quite a while now. She's a modern woman who loves her Prada and Jimmy Choos, very short hair -- very fashionable. She just cracked me up. She's played a mum before, but she's nothing like that. In the outtakes she's got this scene where she swears in her English accent. Even the producer was thinking she's a bit young, but you buy it.
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley: Both: Thank you!
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