But we had a fantastic coach, Simon Clifford, who runs a British football youth game which teaches Brazilian techniques - which is what we wanted to incorporate into the film. And some of those things we eventually got in.

I got to go to Malaysia, Germany, Switzerland, Madrid, America.

I'm a British intern going in. I'm hoping that John will just kind of tackle it from who this person is and what she's about rather than trying to go in on her culture. We need to move a step forward than that.

At times those skills were really hard to do because not only was I having to contend with the camera, but I was having to learn these new skills and the ball was always kind of doing what you didn't want it to do. So it got a little bit frustrating at times but we got there.

There's apparently soccer leagues that they've set up with young Indian girls.

That's what I like about acting. When you're preparing for a role, you do your research, and the bonus is you get to learn these skills. Now, it's on to whatever the next thing is I have to learn.

Before I started doing the film and when I found out I was going to be doing it, I just decided to pump up on the whole cardio stuff. Just in terms of stamina.

And of course in America you've got American football and baseball and all those other ball games, soccer has become a little niche that the women have kind of filled.

I was worried people would laugh at me when I started to talk the language, but they were just pleasantly surprised that I could. The sense of humour here is great - once I could have a giggle, I settled down.

Therefore reinforcing a stereotype, therefore thinking that the entire Indian culture is just made of people that are against their children's decisions.

But we had a fantastic coach, Simon Clifford, who runs a British football youth game which teaches Brazilian techniques - which is what we wanted to incorporate into the film. And some of those things we eventually got in.

Football is a passion that she holds dear to her heart. She's really going for her dream and there are obstacles in the way, but deep down she knows what she wants, and she pursues that.

If I can inspire someone to go in a positive way and pursue a dream, it can only be good.

No, I didn't quite know to what extent the football might be, but it was quite a bonus for me to try to learn new skills and to keep fit at the same time.

But I think it's also hard to get into soccer here. I think purely on a time level on television as well because of the ad breaks. It's something to do with that as well. You can't show a complete soccer match here. Which I kind of find a bit of an odd thing.

I really identified with Jess, because my own dream was acting, which isn't the most conventional profession.

It's been really nice to see different counties that I might never have visited before.

I'm actually going in to ER as the new British intern.

In terms of soccer, it wasn't really a thing that girls did. In England it more kind of Net Ball and Hockey and stuff like that in athletics. It's to each their own, really.

In terms of the frustration of my character, I suppose any teenager has probably gone through that, in terms of telling their parents, I want to do one thing, and their parent says no. I think parents sometimes forget that they were children.

My father in the film - which we probably haven't seen in previous movies, and in British Asian movies you could probably count on one hand - he says exactly why, actually why he's frightened for his daughter. He came to this country, England, and had a bit of a crappy time.

But it's a very universal story and the thing is I was reluctant to answer that question because I don't want people latching on to a particular stereotype.

In London there was an article about all these girls bending it like Beckham, and in India there's this big wave of girls playing football. Wow! I can't believe a movie's done this!

There's a picture of the real Coach Gary Gaines in the book and he's sitting in the locker room after a game, and he just looks so much like Billy Bob, that we went to him.

I learned a great many things in the Marines that helped me as a football coach. The Marines train men hard and to do things the right way, just as a football team must train.

I was on Oprah's show recently talking about the people who impacted me the most. One was a teacher and one was my soccer coach. I didn't even go into my family, who had the most influence.

It's not just about a coach telling you what to do and just following it unthinkingly.

The accent got lost somewhere along the way. I'm a little embarrassed about it. When I arrived in LA I assumed I'd be able to put on the American accent. It proved difficult so I had six months working with a dialect coach and it's become a habit.

So you get two good hours on the field about every day, you get about an hour and a half in the meeting room and that's pretty much all you need to thoroughly coach your team.

My coach was a great politician, so he did most of the work. He was good.

Nobody gives a crap about hockey down here - nobody. I coach kids' hockey down here and you can start to see the disinterest in the game here with the kids.

But as my voice coach keeps saying, if we actually spoke the way they imagine the Elizabethan voice might have been, we wouldn't be able to understand it.

I'm fortunate now that I coach at Duke University and we've won a lot. I have some kids who haven't failed that much. But when they get to college, they're going to fail some time. That's a thing that I can help them the most with.

If I came in to recruit your son, I would tell you, your wife, and your son, that I will be the most demanding coach your son can play for.

When you coach as long as I did, you can't help but miss those Saturdays - dealing with the players, the game preparation, the challenges, the excitement.

But as a coach I wanted to keep things from being too complicated.

Working with my new coach has helped a lot. I've been a lot more focused and I'm doing all the little things in order to get faster. It's been a total lifestyle change really.

I am a coach on the outside of the establishment and that works.

My ambition in high school was to be a high school coach and teacher, and that's still what I do: teach.

I played from the time I was seven years old. My father was my first baseman coach. I had opportunities that I never really pursued - with some Miami teams and a few larger colleges, and then I ended up bailing and began cooking.

I wasn't naturally gifted in terms of size and speed; everything I did in hockey I worked for, and that's the way I'll be as a coach.

I coach a few guys and they work very, very hard, but in our day we did it because we just loved it.

I'm involved in some action scenes, so they'll train me for that. I'll be working with my acting coach to prepare for my character.

The King's son, who was told that a great princess, whom nobody knew, was come, ran out to receive her. He gave her his hand as she alighted from the coach, and led her into the hall where the company were assembled.

You know, a football coach is nothing more than a teacher. You teach them the same subject, and you have a group of new guys every year.

If you have a coach helping you, developing your skills alongside you, that's when you're on your way to becoming not just a participant but achieving.

To have the kind of year you want to have, something has to happen that you can't explain why it happened. Something has to happen that you can't coach.

My high school coach was Ray O'Conner. He has coached a lot of players that have signed professional contracts, and many of those have gone on to play in the major leagues.

I had a coach that was not a great player, but he taught with kids and juniors so that by the time he was 50 he was great. He helped me make the top 5 in the world and yet he wasn't a great player himself.