Bend It Like Beckham/Trivia

• Dawson Casting: Parminder Nagra was twenty-six, playing an eighteen-year-old. Inverted in the case of Keira Knightley, who was actually 16 years old at the time of filming and playing an 18-year-old.
• Hey, It's That Guy!: Elizabeth Swann and Dr Neela Rasgotra play football. Their coach is King Henry VIII.
• Star-Making Role: This and next year's Pirates of the Caribbean put Keira Knightley on the map; Parminder K. Nagra also did very well out of it.
• Throw It In: The burn scars on Parminder Nagra's legs are real, as is the story of how she got them (give or take a few details). In the movie, they serve as a way to show Jess getting over her last inhibitions about playing with the team.
• What Could Have Been: This originally was a lesbian love story.