kuno becker kicks off career in goal!
But in his native Mexico, and to Spanish speaking audiences beyond, Kuno Becker is most closely associated with his performance as the handsome playboy son of a wealthy father in the drama series "Soñadoras." It is this role above all that has made him a pin-up hunk in large areas of Latin America and Spanish speaking areas of the US.
Acclaimed as one of the best young stars in a burgeoning Mexican film industry, his experience ranges from theatre, short films and movies such as "Lucia Lucia," "Once Upon a Wedding" and "The Nomad."
English speaking audiences would have seen Becker playing the villainous role of Gustavo Santos in Christopher Hampton’s harrowing 2003 drama "Imagining Argentina." A taut and powerful film, it recounted the atrocities committed by the military junta that ruled Argentina in the 1970s.
If "Imagining Argentina" explored the dark side of Becker’s persona, relinquishing his teenybopper image, the international profile that "Goal!" will give him is a step up again. Becker plays the charming and clear-eyed Santiago, a Los Angeles based Latino whose dazzling football skills take him to the north east of England, and a trial with Premiership contender Newcastle United. Throwing himself into the challenge of portraying a talented professional footballer Becker pushed himself to, and sometimes beyond, the limit.
"It’s been hard for me," he explains. "I played football in school but obviously not to this standard. When you start working with real football players and a professional team it’s a whole different story. They really train hard, they have technique, and it’s just very different. My body wasn’t used to it. But I tried very hard. Obviously I’m never going to be able to play like them, but we were just trying to get as close as we could. And there are times during that process when your body says ‘hey, what are you doing to me!’. It’s hard but we’re going to get there."
The commitment Becker has shown to the project is more than just physical, with his involvement in "Goal!" scheduled to span three films in an ambitious trilogy. Producer Matt Barrelle recently announced that the first film would deal with Santiago’s rags to riches journey from the barrios of LA to the Geordie heartlands. The second will see him shine in a move to a European club before triumphing on the biggest stage of all, at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
"I love my job," Becker nods, "and I really want to be in as many scenes as I can. Over three films I can really think about putting a character through a process, a longer process than just a single movie. It makes the whole thing more interesting and enjoyable for me."
Just what toll three films will take on the 27 year old’s body is another matter. He admits he has taken his fair share of knocks so far, pushing himself in accordance with the demands of director Danny Cannon and football co-ordinator, and former pro, Andy Ansah.
"I got this ankle injury," Becker recalls, "and the doctor said to me then: ‘I hate to tell you this but you’re never going to be a footballer!’. I was like ‘no kidding!’ At the end of the day, those guys have been playing since they were three or four years old. It’s how you do it, you live with it, and do it from the very beginning. But I love my job, and it actually gives me the opportunity to be a footballer in the film."
"`Goal!’ is a story about football, but it’s a story about emotion too," adds Becker. "It’s a story about everything, about goals, about dreams, about making it. That’s the most important thing for me, that’s what I want to see in this film."
And that in the end is what will make "Goal!" a success, striking the all-important balance between creating convincing action on the field and a compelling drama off it. Kuno Becker is certain to be even better known to cinema audiences at the end of the process than he was at the beginning, but the success that he has found to date has not distracted him to the important aspects of telling a story on screen.
"I think when you go and watch a film with a sporting theme, even if you’re not really into those sports, you can still go and watch a nice story told with emotion and strong characters. That, I think, is the key."
And that, in the end, is the goal.
