I won six trophies with Chelsea and the World Cup - now I'm acting in blockbuster films

EXCLUSIVE: Former Chelsea star Frank Leboeuf has revealed all on his transition into acting after retiring from professional football in 2005

A career in professional football is often regarded as the pinnacle for anyone fortunate enough to experience it. The thrill of scoring goals, winning matches and titles is hard to replicate.

But for former Chelsea centre-back, Frank Leboeuf, life after the beautiful game has presented a newfound love. The 1998 World Cup winner, who won eight major trophies during his career, six of which came with Chelsea, retired from professional football in 2005.

Many have transitioned into punditry or coaching, but Leboeuf made the unusual switch into acting - a career he showed interest in when he was a child. And the former defender was already setting the scene for a career change during his final few years at Chelsea.

Leboeuf's first role came in the 2001 film, Taking Sides, which tells the story of interrogations that took place between a U.S. Army investigator and a musical conductor who had been charged with serving the Nazi regime.

Speaking to football.london, via BetVictor Online Casino, he said: "I had to ask [Claudio] Ranieri because I was playing for Chelsea if I could have three days off to shoot that movie in Berlin and he said, 'yes, no problem'.

"I went there, and when I came back I said 'okay, that's what I want to do' because I loved plays and movies when I was younger, and that was maybe an idea that I kept in my head, but it was clear to me that I wanted to try. In 2005, when I left my career, I moved to Los Angeles and began taking lessons, which led to appearances in some American movies.

"I was then asked to come to France to be in one play, and now I'm playing my ninth one. I've been on stage 1600 times, and I'm producing, I wrote one play, I directed three, so I'm fully involved in the theatre industry.

"I'm not really involved with movies because I don't have the time, and I don't have the role that I want to be involved. It [acting] is amazing, and I love it because I'm as passionate [about it] as I was for football."

While the difference between being a professional footballer and an actor is vast, Leboeuf reveals that his time in the game helped him in his new career.

"The discipline in sport is crazy," he explained. "I can see with the other actors and directors when I used to have to do the same scene 10 times, they would say, 'you never complain,' and I said, 'well, no, you're my coach, you asked me to do that.' I've done that for football when we were training and he said, 'but other actors complain,' because they don't have that sport discipline.

"In football, we follow the hierarchy, even if I think you [the director] are not doing well, I still have to follow you until somebody sacks you and we start over. I'm always on time, I always work hard, I always try to be precise, and that comes from football.

"The discipline that I had in every scene and every play that I've played in - I enjoyed because of what I learned from football."

Being on stage and performing in front of thousands of people a week draws several parallels with performing on the pitch in front of hordes of supporters. The adrenaline and excitement of being live is another.

But for Lebeouf - acting still struggles to replicate the feeling of playing football at the very highest level.

"The pressure we have in football, the uncertainty of the sport brings so much emotion that you can't find anywhere else," he explains. "To go somewhere every three days, you are hated, and you have to do your best, you have expectations, you have the media's expectations as well, that you are going to be judged.

"In acting, you know the end, you know the beginning, you know exactly what's gonna happen, you try to do your best, but it's nothing compared to what sports can bring, especially football and the pressure of everybody.

"I was fortunate to get titles and to be successful, so the joy that I had throughout my 17 years of playing cannot be compared to anything else, I think."

Leboeuf's most famous acting role came in the Oscar-nominated biopic of Stephen Hawking's life - 'The Theory of Everything'. The Frenchman played a doctor who interacted with Bafta and Golden Globe winner Eddie Redmayne in a scene.

"I was shooting a World War II movie in Coventry, and my English agent called me at midnight to say there's a casting for a Theory of Everything," he says. "I said, 'okay, send me the line.'

"I was tired because of shooting for two or three days in Coventry. I took the train from Coventry to London at 6a.m to be there at 8a.m to cast. I started my casting and offered one way of thinking my role and I remember the lady in charge of it saying, 'can you change that and do something else' and I wasn't capable of doing it - I did it three times the same way.

"I went out and I called my agent and said I'm sorry, I was too tired, I think I would never get the job and a week after she called me, to say 'you French b******, you have the job, so I said 'wow, great.'

"It's funny because we shot in a former hospital close to Wembley and I was with Eddie Redmayne and we were on the balcony before shooting the scene, sitting on the bed and looking at Wembley, and Redmayne was telling me, 'wow, you played there.' I said 'yes, and now I play with you.'

"That was cool. The guy was really amazing. What an actor."

Very few have made the same transition to action from football as Leboeuf. Some examples include Eric Cantona and Vinnie Jones, while there have been hints that Cristiano Ronaldo could play a role in the next Fast and Furious film.

When asked if any current players could make the transition, Lebeouf picked out Chelsea's Reece James.

The 57-year-old said: "He has a face of somebody who could be like a professor. A very spiritual professor. He could be a great actor."