“If you don’t know the answer to that question then I think you are an ostrich.”
If you’re to include that, the most explosive of former Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson’s headline-stealing outbursts, in the upcoming movie about Jamie Vardy, then you’ll need to cast someone who can deliver it with the gravitas it deserves.
Enter Vinnie Jones.
The notorious Crazy Gang hardman-footballer-turned-actor is the runaway favourite to play Pearson, according to the Vardy biopic’s screenwriter Adrian Butchart.
No Vinnie, you! In an interview with Newsweek, Butchart, who worked for Knightsbridge Films on the first two Goal! movies, explained that the people of the East Midlands had nominated Jones in a local newspaper poll.
“That came about because the Leicester Mercury ran a poll of who people wanted to see as playing Nigel Pearson,” he said. “The choices were Vinnie, Jason Statham or Ray Stevenson. And 74 percent of them voted for Vinnie.
“So, we got in touch with him and said, ‘This has happened, what do you think?’ He wrote back and said, ‘Cool, I’m in.’
“I think we would all love to see him [in the film]. This film belongs to the people of Leicester as much as anyone, so I would love to make their wishes come true.”
It still feels completely absurd that there is an actual discussion happening about a Jamie Vardy film based on his journey from non-league football to spearheading the attack of so-nearly-relegated Leicester City as they won the English fucking Premier League by 10 points, but that’s 2016 for you.
Vardy actually said a while ago that he’d also pick Vinnie, but to play him, rather than his former coach. Maybe they could just get Vinnie Jones to play everyone: Vardy, Pearson, Ranieri, Gary Lineker, Serge from Kasabian – everyone. Why not?
Butchart has spent the last few months observing Leicester’s phenomenal title charge from behind the scenes, and he sent a few days at the star striker’s home earlier in the season.
As someone who is usually based in glitzy Hollywood, he’s obviously been asked why he wants to a do a film about Vardy, as opposed to world-famous stars like Messi or Ronaldo.
He added: “My response was always that it is less interesting to watch a movie about some guy that’s picked up by a football academy at nine years old and spends a life eating skinless chicken breasts and going to bed at 9pm, compared to Jamie who has had an exciting, interesting, diverse, sometimes controversial, but fun life, which will light up the screen. That is what drew me to Jamie.”
Twilight actor Robert Pattinson, One Direction star Louis Tomlinson, and Hollywood’s Zac Efron are all names that have been touted to play Vardy himself, but there’s no confirmation yet.
As for the movie’s title, ‘Chat Shit, Get Banged’ would surely be up there if it was a bit more billboard-friendly. Filming might begin as soon as October with a targeted release date of summer 2017.
