Before Black Doves, Pride & Prejudice, or even Pirates of the Caribbean, fan-favorite star Keira Knightley starred in a feel-good cult classic called Bend It Like Beckham. Knightley features alongside Parminder Nagra as Jules and Jess, two young women who aspire to play professional soccer (football in the movie’s U.K. setting), to both their families’ dismay.
The sports classic is seemingly reasserting its place in the zeitgeist, with writer-director Gurinder Chadha announcing a Bend It Like Beckham sequel in July 2025. However, when Knightley was recently asked by PEOPLE at a screening for The Woman in Cabin 10, she seemingly dodged the question of whether she will be reprising the role of Jules.
“I saw that on telly,” said Knightley about the sequel. “So yes, I mean, how exciting.” However, she offered no definitive update on being involved with the movie, wondering herself what the new movie will look like. “I mean, when I saw it on the telly I thought, ‘Oh, how lovely, I wonder what that will be?‘” The sequel’s story would bring back the old characters, but none of the original cast has signed on yet.
The 40-year-old star also commented on the impactful legacy of Bend It Like Beckham, saying it is the movie she is asked about the most: “Particularly so many girls do play [soccer] now, and they want to come up and talk about it. So it’s amazing to be a part of something that has, kind of, legacy and that positivity around it.“
Bend It Like Beckham was Knightley’s breakout role, but she only achieved international fame through Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl a year later. 2003 was also the year she starred in the iconic Christmas rom-com Love Actually. In just a few short years, she made two more Pirates of the Caribbean movies and earned her first Oscar nomination for Pride & Prejudice.
Knightley went on to secure another Oscar nomination for The Imitation Game and star in other movies such as Atonement, The Duchess, Never Let Me Go, and Anna Karenina. She has most recently carved out a niche for herself in Netflix thrillers with Black Doves and The Woman in Cabin 10. Knightley is doubtlessly the highest-profile star today from Bend It Like Beckham.
However, the sequel would also probably want to at least bring back Parminder Nagra and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who are both still acting. Bend It Like Beckham would be another legacy sequel to hit moviegoers, which might provoke concern that it will tarnish the original’s legacy — but it could still be a new uplifting story about Jess and Jules’ soccer careers and friendship years down the line.
- Release Date
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April 12, 2002
- Runtime
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112 min
- Director
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Gurinder Chadha