From Fred Topel, for About.com
Goal! The Dream Begins may provide two simultaneous dreams beginning. Santiago Munez gets to fulfill his dream of playing professional soccer and Kuno Becker fulfills his dream of being in a big movie. He plays Santiago, a Mexican immigrant who breaks tradition to follow his heart with a little help from the Newcastle United talent scouts.
Kuno Becker Describes How He Got Involved in Goal! The Dream Begins: “Man, it was the most difficult thing in the world. Not only competitive, but also soccer-wise was really, really hard. I didn’t play a lot of soccer when I was a kid. I did play when I was in school but nothing professional. So I had to do a couple of auditions, like normal auditions, and then when I got the role…or at least half of the role. They said, ‘Okay, now can you play soccer?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, whatever. I can play soccer.’
I had to do this audition for two weeks in England with the real team, with the Newcastle United, the team of the film. I had to train with them for a couple weeks to do another audition, a soccer audition. I broke my ankles because I was training so hard, so many hours a day, that I had stress fracture. I couldn’t even walk, forget about playing soccer. So it was really, really, really hard.”
Becker almost lost the role because of his ankle injuries prior to shooting the film. “I almost didn’t get the role because of that, because the day of the audition, I couldn’t even walk, forget about playing soccer or anything else,” explained Becker. “I did learn a couple of things, like a couple tricks and stuff to keep the ball with me, and that’s where the director said, ‘Okay, you know what? You did improve,’ so I got the role. But it was really, really hard.”
Although Becker trained hard for the role, there are some scenes where a double had to be used. “I did everything in my power to be able to do as much as I could but there were certain things that even if you want to do it, you can’t do it,” said Becker. “There are certain things that these guys…they have been training for 25 years and they are 27, so it’s really, really hard to train for a couple months - four months - and achieve that level. It’s just impossible. So there were certain things that I really couldn’t do because even a lot of soccer players, they can’t do those things. Like the tricks, for example.
I did train a lot so I did as much as I could. I do things that I didn’t really know that I was going to be able to do, so that was a good thing. And the most important thing is that the audience really believes it and that the audience is not taken away by those scenes. It doesn’t take you away from the story when you see those scenes. That was my main concern. I really wanted to achieve a good level so the audience could really follow the story and just really believe that Santiago was a talented player.”
Getting Into Shape for Goal!: “I did have time to heal because that was like a month and a half before we started shooting. By the time we started shooting, I had started training but I was recovering myself. It was very, very hard. Then the actual training for the film, I did it, again, with a team and on the field. I had a football coach and I had a football teacher. I had to learn everything from, ‘This is how you go to try to score a goal...’ It was really, really bad. Physically, it was the toughest thing I’ve ever done.”
Hitting the Mark Take After Take: “It was very difficult, as you said, because it’s a whole different thing to actually play a match than to shoot a match for film. All the scenes, for example that trial you see in the first film under the rain and with mud and everything, we shot that sequence for about a week. And it was really, really hard. It was super cold. It was minus I don't know what and I couldn’t feel my legs anymore. Somebody broke my nose and it was cuts and cuts and it was constantly playing football, playing soccer for 10-12 hours. Stopping and not stopping, but it was really hard. So it’s actually harder than just playing a match.”
On Soccer Hooligans: Becker laughed when asked if he encountered any real soccer hooligans. “No, actually the Geordies were great with us. At the beginning, they were like, ‘Oh, man, this is not gonna happen. I mean, a guy that comes here and trains for four months is never going to be able to play football’ - as they call it instead of soccer.
I just trained hard and by the time we finished the film, the English fans were actually making up songs for my character, for Santiago. They were yelling, ‘Santiago is a Geordie,’ so it was really great. The people of the team, they were open to us. They were very warm with us. They were very helpful and supportive.”
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Goal! The Dream Begins may provide two simultaneous dreams beginning. Santiago Munez gets to fulfill his dream of playing professional soccer and Kuno Becker fulfills his dream of being in a big movie. He plays Santiago, a Mexican immigrant who breaks tradition to follow his heart with a little help from the Newcastle United talent scouts.
Kuno Becker Describes How He Got Involved in Goal! The Dream Begins: “Man, it was the most difficult thing in the world. Not only competitive, but also soccer-wise was really, really hard. I didn’t play a lot of soccer when I was a kid. I did play when I was in school but nothing professional. So I had to do a couple of auditions, like normal auditions, and then when I got the role…or at least half of the role. They said, ‘Okay, now can you play soccer?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, whatever. I can play soccer.’
I had to do this audition for two weeks in England with the real team, with the Newcastle United, the team of the film. I had to train with them for a couple weeks to do another audition, a soccer audition. I broke my ankles because I was training so hard, so many hours a day, that I had stress fracture. I couldn’t even walk, forget about playing soccer. So it was really, really, really hard.”
Becker almost lost the role because of his ankle injuries prior to shooting the film. “I almost didn’t get the role because of that, because the day of the audition, I couldn’t even walk, forget about playing soccer or anything else,” explained Becker. “I did learn a couple of things, like a couple tricks and stuff to keep the ball with me, and that’s where the director said, ‘Okay, you know what? You did improve,’ so I got the role. But it was really, really hard.”
Although Becker trained hard for the role, there are some scenes where a double had to be used. “I did everything in my power to be able to do as much as I could but there were certain things that even if you want to do it, you can’t do it,” said Becker. “There are certain things that these guys…they have been training for 25 years and they are 27, so it’s really, really hard to train for a couple months - four months - and achieve that level. It’s just impossible. So there were certain things that I really couldn’t do because even a lot of soccer players, they can’t do those things. Like the tricks, for example.
I did train a lot so I did as much as I could. I do things that I didn’t really know that I was going to be able to do, so that was a good thing. And the most important thing is that the audience really believes it and that the audience is not taken away by those scenes. It doesn’t take you away from the story when you see those scenes. That was my main concern. I really wanted to achieve a good level so the audience could really follow the story and just really believe that Santiago was a talented player.”
Getting Into Shape for Goal!: “I did have time to heal because that was like a month and a half before we started shooting. By the time we started shooting, I had started training but I was recovering myself. It was very, very hard. Then the actual training for the film, I did it, again, with a team and on the field. I had a football coach and I had a football teacher. I had to learn everything from, ‘This is how you go to try to score a goal...’ It was really, really bad. Physically, it was the toughest thing I’ve ever done.”
Hitting the Mark Take After Take: “It was very difficult, as you said, because it’s a whole different thing to actually play a match than to shoot a match for film. All the scenes, for example that trial you see in the first film under the rain and with mud and everything, we shot that sequence for about a week. And it was really, really hard. It was super cold. It was minus I don't know what and I couldn’t feel my legs anymore. Somebody broke my nose and it was cuts and cuts and it was constantly playing football, playing soccer for 10-12 hours. Stopping and not stopping, but it was really hard. So it’s actually harder than just playing a match.”
On Soccer Hooligans: Becker laughed when asked if he encountered any real soccer hooligans. “No, actually the Geordies were great with us. At the beginning, they were like, ‘Oh, man, this is not gonna happen. I mean, a guy that comes here and trains for four months is never going to be able to play football’ - as they call it instead of soccer.
I just trained hard and by the time we finished the film, the English fans were actually making up songs for my character, for Santiago. They were yelling, ‘Santiago is a Geordie,’ so it was really great. The people of the team, they were open to us. They were very warm with us. They were very helpful and supportive.”
MORE: link