Éric Cantona Scores No. 1 Netflix Movie

Éric Cantona is featured in the top movie on Netflix. The former soccer star plays Victor Pastore in the movie AKA which began streaming on Netflix on April 28. And after being on the streaming service for a few days, AKA is ranked the No. 1 film in the United States. 

“In this intense action thriller, a special ops agent goes undercover within a criminal organization and unexpectedly befriends the boss’s young son,” the official synopsis states. Cantona stars in the movie with Alban Lenoir, Thibault de Montalembert, Sveva Alviti, Saïdou Camara.

Cantona, 56 has been retired from soccer for 26 years and has done his share of work in movies and television shows during that span. When he left soccer, Cantona was considered one of the best in his generation as he was named English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Premiere League Hall of Fame in 2021. Cantona played for multiple club teams from 1983-1997 including Leeds United and Manchester United. He was a member of the France and France (beach) national teams and scored 20 goals in 45 appearances. 

In a previous interview, Cantona talked about how playing soccer and acting are similar. “You get a similar feeling when you are on the pitch and on a set,” Cantona said, per FourFourTwo. “But the feeling is stronger on a pitch. When I lost that feeling, I stopped playing. I felt like I could not improve. In acting, I work hard to try and improve. I don’t like it when a football coach tells you which way to play. I like to improve myself as a person. Often there are players who have only football as a way of expressing themselves and never develop other interests. And when they no longer play football, they no longer do anything; they no longer exist, or rather they have the sensation of no longer existing.”

Cantona was also asked about the things that motivate him. “I think I retired so young because I wanted to improve every time, to be a better player,” he said. “For myself and the team. To win trophies. To have a feeling of improving. When I retired, I felt that I couldn’t improve any more. And I lost the passion at the same time. The passion comes with the motivation of improving. If you lose the passion, you lose the motivation.”