I won the World Cup with France and starred in England, now I’m an actor who has appeared alongside Oscar winners
FORMER Chelsea star Frank Leboeuf has shown his range since retiring from football, by becoming an actor in an Oscar-nominated film.
Leboeuf, 55, starred for Chelsea in the Premier League between 1996 and 2001, making 201 appearances for the Blues and scoring 24 goals.
While in England, the defender won two FA Cups, the League Cup and the Uefa Super Cup.
Leboeuf starred on the international stage too, winning the World Cup with France in 1998 and then the European Championships in 2000.
But since retiring from football in 2007, Leboeuf has had quite a dramatic career change.
Rather than gracing fans screens on a football pitch, he now enjoys time on the big screen and TV as an actor.
Asked by the BBC about his new career, Leboeuf said: “I came back to my first passion which was movies and plays. When I was four years old I wanted to be an actor.
“When I gave up my career I went to LA to learn the process of acting. We have a chance to have maybe two different lives and I wanted to try that and it works pretty well.”
Indeed, Leboeuf’s passion for the performing arts eventually saw him land a role as a Swiss doctor in the 2014 film The Theory of Everything.
On landing the role, he added: “I called my agent and said it (the audition) didn’t work very well and then about a week after she said ‘come on you French beep, you got it’!
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“And I said ‘oh my god it’s fantastic’.”
The Stephen Hawking biopic saw the film nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, while lead actor Eddie Redmayne, who plays Professor Hawking, won Best Actor.
The movies nomination saw Leboeuf earn the unique title of the first person to win the World Cup and star in an Oscar-nominated movie.
“For me it’s just the beginning for another career,” he continued.
“I don’t want to stop there and say ok well I did that and was nominated but I only played three minutes.
“What I want is maybe someday to have a role like Eddie Redmayne has and be able to show what I’m capable of but we’ll see.”
Since his cameo in the film, Leboeuf has expanded his acting CV, starring in the French stage play Ma belle mere et moi neuf mois apres, as well as a host of French TV shows and movies.
His most recent role came in 2020 when he starred in an episode of French detective TV show Commissaire Magellan.
However, Leboeuf remains determined to achieve his dream of landing his Oscar.
Asked whether he would consider swapping a Best Actor Oscar for his World Cup winners medal, he said: “Why do you want me to swap when I can have both?”