That Gaby Roslin Podcast: Reasons To Be Joyful - The Beautiful Game

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

The Beautiful Game is a new film, which Gaby absolutely loves and wants everyone to see. She's joined in the studio by Director Thea Sharrock and one of the stars, Sheyi Cole, to talk about this joyous, life-affirming film.It tells the story of the homeless world cup, which was co-founded by Mel Young, who also joins Gaby (and has a cameo on screen) to explain how it all began. They discuss filming during Covid, the importance of sport in bringing people together and how they hope this film will change perceptions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So this week on the podcast, we got something very special. We are talking about a film that I'm obsessed with. I've been all over the radio, all over the television, going on and on and on about the beautiful game. And delighted to welcome three of the people behind this. Mel, who came up with the Homeless World Cup many years ago. Thea, who directed it and is passionate about the Homeless World Cup. And look at you, Fishman. And people won't know why I call you Fishman unless they've seen the film.

And they're going to have to see the film on so many levels. How are you? Good, good, good. Thank you for having me today. Oh, it's so lovely to chat to you again, to all of you again. So for people who haven't seen the beautiful game, if I can put in a nutshell, what it means to me watching it is that this is a film about people,

about caring, about heart, about love, and about football. in that order and they all come together in this beautiful, beautiful film. Theo, thank you. Thank you for creating this very beautiful film. Thank you for having us and thank you for saying all of that. It's an absolute pleasure to be here and it's genuinely so lovely to hear you talk about it and we have a little bit of distance on it now. So it's really nice to be able to sort of revisit and think about both why we did it

and what went into making it. That man over there, Mel. Mel, who is utterly extraordinary and simply without him. Of course, we wouldn't be here because we wouldn't have a story to tell. So I'll tell you what. Can we go to you, Mel, first before we go to the film, the Homeless World Cup. You started this up many years ago.

You're a passionate man who cares. You care about homeless people. You care about people. And it comes from your heart. So for people who don't know about the Homeless World Cup, can you tell us the background and how it all started, please? Yeah, sure. And also thank you for having me on and thank you for your kind words.

And it is a wonderful movie and here and her team. And all the actors have done a wonderful job. We started the Homeless World Cup following an idea that we had myself and a colleague who were working with homeless people over a beer. And we both loved football and we knew that the power football had. and I was working with homeless people in Scotland and my colleague was working with homeless people in Austria. And we said, hey, look, homeless people would really appreciate being part of a team and how can we create that. And the team would be very powerful connector.

So I said, look, some of our guys in Scotland can be Scotland. And he said, well, some of our guys in Austria will be Austria. So we shook hands over a beer and should write there'll be a game between us and we both said we'd win. And then we had another beer and we created Homelesswell Cup. where everybody could come. So that was in 2001 and then in 2003 we had the first event where we had 16 countries participating. And it was very, very successful in all levels, primarily that homeless people had changed their lives completely. And that was what our aimment was.

And secondly, the audiences came to watch and there were some significant numbers came to watch, also changed the whole perception of what homeless people were. stereotypical images were absolutely destroyed. So that's the beginning of it and we've grown it and developed it ever since. Wow. I mean, just like I said, this comes from the heart. So Mel, thank you very much.

Fia, then you knew about the Homeless World Cup. No, you didn't know. You didn't know about it. Which is amazing because unlike you, I'm a massive football fan. I couldn't believe I'd never, I had no concept of it. And that was my biggest takeaway on the first read. I couldn't believe that this was based on a true thing. And then meeting Mel, Graham Broadbent and everybody at Blueprint

who had worked so closely with Mel over a number of years to try to find a story, basically, a story within so many stories. I think that's one of the main things is that as soon as you visit the World Cup, which I have now managed to do. So this last year, I went to Sacramento, which is where the last one was held, I think, for the first time in America. And it was incredible. It was so, I mean, it was so like something that we, the thing that we created. I mean, that was what was so joyous was knowing that all the effort that we'd gone to to try to create something that meant so much and that had already changed so many people's lives.

It was just really important that we got the integrity of that right. And what made that happen in Rome was the fact that we had not only Mel and some of his team with us, but we had over 80 players. So every single player that is not an actor, if you like in the film, has been in a real Homers World Cup. They all have their stories to share. Every story is individual, some of which are, feel like very familiar stories. we may well have heard or come across ourselves.

Some aren't. And that's one of the things is it just opens your eyes to how so many people have kind of fallen by the wayside because of it. But to be able to help people refine themselves is an amazing gift. And we got a little taste of that. And it felt like such a privilege to be able to tell these stories and to tell the world about it. So no, so I went from knowing very little to knowing a lot In a short space of time

And it's something that I will always be very proud of And whatever we can always do to help it, we will do That's how I'm left feeling that after watching the film That I want to do everything I can To get a loud hailer and tell the world about this Because it's such an incredible thing And what it does for people's lives And it's they shouldn't be forgotten and treated

just walked past and when you'd see people walking over, people in the street, no. And the fact of the, there were teams all coming together. I mean, this is, so for you as an actor, you get this script, you know, the fears involved. Frank Cottrell-Boyce, I mean, beautifully, beautifully written. And Frank, just to say, Frank was on it absolutely from the beginning. Graham knew that he was the right man to tell the story. So he, together with Colin Farrell, who also had first made a documentary called Kicking It. And anyone who is interested in it should watch this because it's superb.

It will break your heart in the same way. But it's brilliant. And what it teaches you about the organisation, then again about it just reminds you of human nature and what will and determination and teamwork can do and how it really can turn a life around. and even if it turns one life around, it's worth it. So they together scooped up Frank and Frank worked endlessly on the script time and time again to try to bring together

as many of these amazing stories that he kind of fell in love with on hearing and on meeting so many of these players over a period of time and he just honed it and honed it and honed it and honed it and even whilst we were still in Rome, he came out to Rome And still we were working on the script to make it

just to make it as real and as lovable and likable but also not to run away from the harsh truth of it. But also trying to walk that line so that it never became patronising. It never became a lesson that we were trying to teach anybody. It's not that at all. As a viewer, it doesn't come across like that at all. I mean, I love Frank Cultural Boyce.

A delightful man and he writes from the heart. He really does. So for you, getting this, that you are now being auditioned to be in a film that is beautiful. Yeah, incredible. Talk me through your audition. So you like football. You support Chelsea. That's right.

Okay. I love football and I support Chelsea. He nearly didn't get the part because of that. It felt like that because of how long the actual audition process was. They taught me through it. I was still at drama schools in my third year of drama school. and drama school was a weird time for me just because although I did participate

and I was there, I was still working throughout my time. Third year hits in the actual time I'm allowed to start working and I have an amazing project come through. At the time was called the Homeless World Cup. It wasn't even called the Beautiful Game. And my agent calls me and says, I know you love football and I would love you to come in and do something with this.

So I was like, yeah, of course. So we had a self-tape. I set my self-tape off. So what did you do? Did you have to, did you play football in the self-take? No, no. I was actually one of the only actors, I believe, throughout this process that didn't have to showcase their football talent.

So, yeah, that wasn't a part of my audition. I think it was just more character-based, really. So, yes, I then self-tape and I come back, I think the next day I then get a call from my agent saying that, yeah, they love you, can we get another self-tape in? I think I may have done another one with some more scenes. and then goodness there's a lot actually

and then I actually go into then see Thea and who else was there I think Graham and Graham and Gina and Gina but I think I'd even seen you before that point what we have to remember is this is COVID time so part of the reason why there were so many self-tapes

you couldn't do face to face we couldn't do face so we definitely did I remember at least two when you were what felt to me like Heidi in a bunker at school. That's right. And I sort of felt terrible because on the one hand, you know,

I was trying to give this boy a job. But at the same time, I knew he was still at school and he was like meant to be doing... I was ready to leave. I knew you were. I knew you were. But I was trying to be, you know, parental and look like that. But no, it was great.

I mean, all in all, there were a few rounds of auditions. But that was fine because it allowed me to kind of be on this journey and find a version of Jason collaboratively with the team. And it was great. I mean, as we were talking about, It felt like we were in a bunker. And that being said is because I was rehearsing for a third-year play had gone too far. And that was the only third-year play I actually did.

And I think out of like four that I was supposed to do. But, hey, I was doing what I love and I was able to do, you know. And you're part of this incredible film. Exactly. So Michael, all of you and Callum, sadly, isn't very well today because he was meant to be here as well. But all of you, and I'm going to embarrass you now. Right. Just, you know, get over it.

I'm going to embarrass you. Okay. There was not, I think when you see a film like this, I believed every single one of you. It was, there's no weak link in this film at all. Not at all. And I love your characters. And I cared so passionately about your characters.

And now I've interviewed you, this is the second time I've interviewed you about it. I get that you really care about this film as well. In a different way than actors usually do about their films. Yeah, 100%. Because especially when the themes line up, to actually stuff that you believe in. And I'm always someone that doesn't want to judge people by what I see.

I'm someone that cares about humanity and the individual underneath what's in front of people. So when I see a script and I see something that explores topics like that and themes like that, it's lined up of how I live my life and my moral standards. So of course, it also feels like that there's a part of me in this film and I've given a part of myself to the world. So when, you know, I meet people like yourself, Gabby, that are so passionate, And so loving about what we've been able to create, it honestly feels, it's a dream to me. You know, lining up with the fact that I get to play football every day for three and a half months with people I love. It's even better.

Yeah. Sounds really awful. That's horrible. And in Rome. Yeah. In Rome, I mean, that's awful. So you were saying, Thea, that you use actual people who have been part of the Homeless World Cup in all of this. And I knew that beforehand because I read about it.

because I knew I was going to be interviewing you, of course. That sort of takes it to yet even another level. It's a film about love. It is a film about love. I think that's absolutely right. And the very, very, very best of humanity and the potential best of humanity. Because the world can be a tough place.

And sometimes it's really unfair. And often, you know, we're all in different positions. Sometimes we're in a position to help and sometimes we're not. And sometimes we're the ones who need the help. And if we can recognize when we can and we can give and we can be there for others, that's what we do. And I think this, the making of this film will be forever unique for all of us. It really will.

Because it was powered by this experience. exceptional. Again, it is love, really. And it's, again, it's the potential of change in a positive way. We all believed it so fully because we were surrounded by people whose life had changed by this tournament, by the experience of being part of it. And what they brought every day, the passion that they brought, sometimes when they were literally just in the stands, just celebrating,

watching my actors on a set, they gave everything. just being on the sidelines, which was, you could, literally you could feel it. You know, it was exceptional. And then on top of all of that, you know, we were in Rome, which was beautiful and stunning,

and in a country that cares about football in the way that they do, they give everything. You don't get a more passionate people than Italian. You have a moment in the film, a couple of moments where one of the characters, no spoilers, of course, everyone has to watch this film.

It's law. It's just law. There's illegal, that's it, they have to. But there's a moment where Michael's character is running through the streets and just playing in the streets with the young boys in Italy. And that's what you see in Italy.

They love their football. God, they do. They do. We were shooting during the European Cup and it was like you could feel the energy and you could feel the support and the nationalism and everything for football

and for their country. it was such a weird experience as well because the final was England, Italy and of course those were there and you were there! Did you keep your mouth straight? In the middle of Rome. Well, again, because of COVID,

we had to protect our actors so carefully that we had to basically be in a bubble. Oh, okay. Okay, so picture this. We're watching the final on a rooftop so we could be outdoors with basically all the actors, me, my son was with me, and some of the producers, and a couple of, any English crew that

we had, which is not meant like the DP was English, but just about everybody else was Italian. And the only way for us to watch any of this together was outside. So there we are, literally rooftop. They'd created this sort of bar area and a massive screen and it was incredible. What was so painful? What's the result? only the result, but we could hear not that far away the reaction. We suddenly realized of other people watching. So we suddenly realized that we were on like a three second delay.

So when it came to the penalty. Oh no, you know, no. We knew. And that last moment when the ball did not go in, we felt the whole, what felt like the whole of Italy, let alone the whole of Rome, completely erupt before Sakra had even taken it. And I mean, our hearts were just broken. I can feel it now. It was so painful, I can't tell you. And the quiet... I don't know, you could laugh now.

It was fine. But my son was 13 at the time. Oh. And we had to walk back from there to our amazing apartment in the middle of town through... Oh, no. Oh, poor 13-year-old boy. I mean, let me tell you, he grew up quick summer. And it started with that.

What have you done to your son? I've made him into a man is what I've done. I've made him into a man. Mel, it must be quite incredible for you to see this film. I know you have a cameo in it and a wonderful cameo at the end where now I've watched it three times. Each time I cheer louder when you're actually on there. But for you to see something that's been,

you have changed people's lives. It is as dramatic as that and you really have in real life to then see your story and the story of the Homeless World Cup told on film for more people to know about, what does it mean to you? Well, actually, it's amazing and truly amazing. And as you're saying, the film was brilliant, and everybody's in a brilliant job of making that film real. And Frank and Graham and everybody in the theatre and the actors took real time

to make sure it was as authentic as possible. Obviously, it's a fiction movie, but to make sure it was not patronising or it wasn't making this look idiotic. And it was as true to what we're about as possible. So from that point to view, it was fabulous. But I think more, you know, going back to when we started this, myself and Harold, if you'd said to us, by the way, that people are going to make a movie about this,

which is going to be shown all over the world, and these actors are going to be there and top directors and so on and so forth, I'd have just laughed at you. And we are pretty good at our creative stuff, by the way, because to come up with Homeless Smoke Up requires some creative thinking. So it really is beyond Wilder's dream sort of stuff and so it's absolutely brilliant

and the feedback that we've had since the movies come out from our people from our homeless people, former players all that we work in 70 countries around the world all of our partners. It's been nothing but positivity and so it's given a great kind of morale boost for everybody.

I mean we were always really determined their partners. We're positive about the change we can know what's happening but sometimes it's hard hard work, you know, day in day out, hard work. And so something like this comes along. It's just brilliant for everybody. We're like a kind of huge family across the world and makes it difference. So this movie coming out in this way is just superb. It's like five out of five, 10 out of 10, everyone, it's 100% wonderful. Mel, for you doing this for homeless people,

and I know you've done more before this, and you've been involved with looking after homeless people for many years. Is the homeless workup about bringing people together about, I'm sorry to, I'm overusing the word, but for me, this is about love that we've got to, we've got to just look after each other. We've just got to be kind. Absolutely. Part of the problem in the world is that, you know, homeless people are referred to as the

homeless, like there's some kind of blob, with some kind of problem, you just kind of get rid of. And actually, I'm always saying actually they're human beings and they're male and female and big and small and good at football and rubbish at football. But actually, just the human beings, a situation in their life's changed. And millions of people in the world have been affected by homelessness. So for us, it's about bringing people together, creating teams that are really, you know, like family. And then, you know, changing the people. It's not just homeless people building their psychology, but the people who are watching the game.

So the biggest number we had, you're talking about Italians being wonderful at football. Mexicans are also pretty fanatical about football. So when we were there, we had 167,000 people came to watch over eight days. So that's 167,000 people come to watch homeless people play football. So what was happening here is they're coming to watch the football, and they're supporting Mexico, obviously, in that case. but they're also supporting the other teams. They're empathizing with the other players

and it's football and its best. So one little anecdote I could tell you, and there are many, actually thousands of little anecdotes. So one of these games in the early days, it was Germany against Holland, and so everybody's thinking, oh, well, these are great rivals, this will be a great game,

it will be really close and it will be hard fought and so on and so forth. In fact, what happened is Holland were much better than Germany and won by a lot of goals. That's what happens at our event. But at the end, the Dutch goalkeeper rushed up to the German goalkeeper. And the German goalkeeper, despite lefty and lots of goals, had been brilliant. I mean, he'd been amazing saves and so on that. And the Dutch goalkeeper picked him up and put him on his shoulders.

And the place went crazy because that was about sport. See, that sport at its best. And, of course, both teams want to win. Everybody wants to win, okay, because we're not being patronising. to see me something else. It's about winning the game at whatever level you're at. And finally, to the point about love,

I can tell you about how this works, how we get the players together, how we get them off the street, the psychological impact, so on and so forth, and explain to you why we're getting the change. And the players can only come one time. It's the end of a journey. They're moving on and we have great move on.

But there's something else going on. There's another dynamic that goes on. And I remember speaking to somebody at one of our events and I said, I was explaining to him, I said there's something else happening here. There's another kind of force. I don't know what it is. And they said to me, one word, Mel, love.

You're incredible. You're stuck with me now, Mel, because I want to do everything I can to shout from the rooftop. One of my kind of mantras is that if we all get together and do little things, okay, from whatever, we'll make a difference. So if people want to make a,

you say, how can an act to end homelessness? How can a direct it end homelessness? How can I present it end homelessness? We'll just do what you do, I always say to people, and work out a way which can happen. So by all of us doing what we can do and doing a little, and doing it together, it becomes a lot, and that's how we've aimed it. And I don't think there should be any homelessness in the world.

I think it's ridiculous. And so you've got to change the system, and we can change the system with we so much. And on the topic of love as well, I look at the film, and I kind of split it up into three kind of segments. You've got love for the sport, and you've got love for each other and your teammates and your competitors, but also reigniting the love within yourself and finding out kind of like,

what makes you tick, what you really love, and reigniting that flame within inside of you. And I think all three of those things can create kind of like a spur to want to, whether or not improve your circumstance, or just kind of just look at yourself and look at life and realize that you have a meaning and your worth in your self-worth, And so many people I've spoken to, they have some of the craziest and wildest stories that you would think they're movies in their own right. But it really highlights the resilience of humans, the resilience of people and how much we are actually a lot stronger than we believe that we actually are. And when you connect that with something that you love and then connect that to your being and yourself, you can then really see some major improvements. and when you've got amazing people like Mel and other people

that are also kind of like, you know, reminding you of that, then I think you've got the best of both worlds. I was told something many years ago by a homeless charity that said, if you see a homeless person, please ask their name. And the homeless walk up and this film takes it further. It's not just because I always do now and they always say, nobody asks, nobody wants to know my name. and it's just something I was told, I'd now do it and I can't not.

They're people. They're not objects. But what you've done is you've given them soul with this film. So you've let all of us into their souls. So the stories that we're told about the characters, are those based on real stories as well as, because obviously the Homeless World Cup is real, but are the stories that we learn in the film based on real stories.

Yeah, basically. Some of them are like a composition of lots of different stories that we've channeled through one person. I think Frank will always tell you that the hardest job he had was trying to whittle them down to fit into one script because he had so many. I'm sure. He'd come across so many. But whether it was, you know, Jason, a young boy who just steals things because that's the way he knows how to get from a. to be. An African, I mean, Mel will have 900 versions of little stories, as he says. But there was one year when an African team simply didn't turn up because they got held back because of visa problems.

I mean, that happens constantly. And, you know, all the way through to, I was thinking, Shay, when you were talking about what it is, the kind of love you can re-find almost within yourself, For me, I think that's almost impossible to reignite or to ignite without somebody else. I think it takes a second person to light that fire. And one of the things that I'm also really proud of in this is in Michael's performance, he was unafraid to play a really unlikable character. And in the beginning, we worried with the script.

We worried, even when we were sort of first putting it together, is he likable? Do we love him enough? We do by the end, but in the beginning, he's tough. He's tough to love. And, you know, myself, Graham, Michael and Frank were always adamant that we needed that. We needed that at the heart of it. Everyone else, if you like, is very easy to fall in love with. They put their hands up and they know when they've done something wrong.

And that makes them adorable. Whereas he protests from the beginning. He says, I'm not homeless. I've done nothing wrong. I've got a car. I've got a job. I've got everything. He pushes people.

away constantly, which is another way of handling what is an incredibly difficult situation. He isn't ready yet to say, yes, I'm one of you. And that's really with the journey that he goes on. So it was only very, very recently hearing him, him Michael, giving an interview, I think, to the BBC, where he talked about actually almost didn't realise and didn't recognise the fact that as a young boy, he had a lot of times of being homeless and that his mum protected him from that. We never talked about that.

I sat and listened to this and thought, oh my gosh, that just goes to show again how difficult this is to talk about. It's like a taboo subject in many ways. And so you saying, asking somebody what their name is, that's a brilliant way to begin to break the taboos. You know, it's so hard sometimes when somebody comes on the tube and asks lots of people or two of you for money.

Particularly nowadays, I find that really complicated because I don't carry money around with me anymore. And what used to be really easy to find a pound or a fibre or whatever I had and I was happy to hand it over. I don't have that anymore. And I feel awful and awkward. And I reach for what do I have that I can give? And often I just don't have anything anymore because COVID has changed my life. That's one in so many ways. But you've given this film.

And that does sound very dramatic, but you have. So what you've done is you've given these people a voice. You've given them a face. You've taken us into their lives. So for that, from them. Thank you very much. And I know it's going to help a lot of people. Can we go to the sort of the movie side now?

Football. Are you all really playing the football? Is that for real? I mean, does Michael really play football like that? And I want to know as well, has Mel ever really been red carded? Because Bill Nyee's moods, I mean, when he loses it, come on, Mel, have you ever had a red card shoved in your face? No, I haven't had a red card because I'm normally the organised, so I'm not a manager. So I've not had a red card.

But I have to say, what's real about the movie compared with what goes on, sometimes the managers are quite a more disciplinary action than the players do, to be quite honest. the managers are busy saying, you know, right, behave and, you know, it's fair play. And the players do that and the managers don't. But I personally have not had a red card. It was just Bill Nye's character. Okay. But did you actually play the football? Is that so does Michael really play football?

He's insanely good. Callum, who I've seen in Cabaret and as the MC and in It's a Sin, he's a pretty darn good footballer. You're an incredible footballer. I know you love football. Michael, does he really play football? Were those his feet? Yes. Yes, yes, yes.

The ones on the end of his legs, yes. Those are definitely his feet. There's no cutaways. I mean, I heard very nicely, on social media, I heard from your choreographer, the football choreographer. Mike Delaney. Mike. Superstar.

Just the most lovely messages. So he choreographs football. This is something I didn't know. Can I be taught to choreograph? Can I play football now, then? If he choreographs me to look like I play football? Anyone can play football. Shall I tell you about some of the, in terms of the choreography itself,

one of my most favourite memories is sitting in Rome during prep. So before we started shooting, I would sit with my DP, with Mike, both of them were called Mike, very useful, and Harry, my first AD. And we sat around a table the size of this, and we bought Subutio. I love this. And I literally, do you know this? I don't know. Somebody set up. What?

And we literally sat there with two sets of teams and I would talk through what I wanted to happen for each goal. Wow. And Mike, both mics would talk about what they need. So from the camera point of view, we talked about what they needed and what might be more useful or how best to shoot it and where the cameras should go. and Mike Delaney would explain to me how possibly we could make what I wanted the final effect to be to be built up. I love that. Yeah, it was like war games. It was serious strategy.

Because you love your football. I do love my football. I do love my football. And I never wanted it to be boring. I never wanted it to be the same. It was really important to me that the football is good enough for football lovers to appreciate. So my husband is a football. lover.

Okay. I'm not a football lover. And yet the thing I want to say about this film is what I keep saying to everybody. It's this is, you can watch it. It's about love, as we've been saying. But it's also, I've never screamed at a football match, but I did in this. It was really, he just couldn't believe it. I was going, no, no, yes, yes, yes.

And by the third time of watching it, over the past three weeks, I've watched it once a week, I was, even though I know what the school. What's going to be? You still get wound up. Still. Yeah. Love it. Thank you for putting this film out there.

Thank you to all three of you and to the whole cast. And you can see it on Netflix. It's available right now on Netflix. The world is watching it. How does that make you feel? How does it make your mom feel? I've spoken to your mom, which is quite sure. How does it feel that the world is watching this film?

The world is talking about this movie. I love it. I love it. I guess maybe from an egotistical point of view. but, you know, I also love it because I think it deserves it. So, you know, from both angles, it's great. And I just, for me, I always like to pick work that I think is going to affect people. And I feel like this is doing that.

And it's important that it reaches the masses. So it's everything that I expected. And I'm just super proud to be a part of something like this. Thayer, you must be delighted with the reaction. Yeah, no, it's been amazing. I'm so, I'm so proud. I'm so happy for Mel and the, everybody who works tirelessly at the Homeless World Cup.

It's everything they deserve. And they were the inspiration. And if this is us giving back, then so be it. Fantastic. So the little girl who went to Anna Scher School when she was very young knew that through working in theatre, and you've done amazing work in theatre, and obviously quite a few films,

and everybody knows about the recent film as well. Well, we're talking about this film, so we were not going to name the other films, but everyone knows what you've done. look what you're doing you're doing it you're doing what you wanted to do how does that feel

it's funny because Shea I don't know if you're better than I am at this but I don't I can't spend too long thinking about it like that because when you're in it and you're doing it that's what's important but you're doing it you're doing it you always wanted to do this

you're doing it you're both doing it It's a privilege. Very much so. And Mel, look what you've done. Thank you for what you've done. Thank you for putting the World Cup together and all the work you also do with the homeless people. And thank you for joining us today.

It's a real honour to meet you. So thank you. Thank you for inviting me along. I'll give you just a testament how good this movie is. Lots of the former players have been in touch to see how much they like it, but also then say, do you know one of the actors in the movies? It's all about me. So there's all these hundreds of people who think that the actress is about them.

So that is a real testament to how good this movie is if they all think it's about them. It's fabulous. So absolutely spot on, fabulous. So thank you very much. Thank you to The A&A's because it's, as I said earlier, it's A1. Perfect. Thank you very much for this episode. We've not done this before on the podcast,

in nearly 200 episodes. This is the first time we've dedicated it to a film. That's how much I love it. And thank you for creating this beautiful film. And I can't wait for what you're all going to do next because you're going to smash it. Thank you. You're special.