Footballing legend Eric Cantona has kicked off a new phase in his career, making his stage debut in a Paris theatre last week. His appearance in Face au Paradis (Facing Paradise) was greeted with cheers by the audience – but has divided critics.

The ex-Manchester United star has already established a name for himself as a screen actor, featuring in a dozen films since he gave up football in 1997. Now he’s taken to the stage playing a dying man half-buried in a collapsed building. It’s another departure into the unknown for Cantona, who seems determined not rest on his reputation.

“I love passion, I just want to try different things, feel danger sometimes. But the goal is always the same. To play, and to feel pleasure to play. But we know that to enjoy it we need confidence, and the confidence comes only from a lot of work.”

Listen to the Newsline report.

More than love

The play’s director Rachida Brakni is a former member of the prestigious Comedie Francaise and an award winning film actress – and Eric Cantona’s wife. But she’s not working with him just for love.

“He has a lot of talent. And it’s not the woman who loves him who’s saying that. In the cinema, sometimes it’s just enough, your presence, in theatre it’s not enough. And Eric is someone who is a worker. He’s not afraid of challenge, he’s not afraid of work.”

Cantona achieved almost cult status during his footballing years in England – but has never been valued as highly in his native France, either on or off the pitch. His rough Marseille accent has stopped many from taking him seriously, according to Marc Beaujais of France Football magazine.

“Personally I think that he’s still really a bit of a rebel. He does things genuinely; when he does acting he does it because he likes it. But when you talk to people in French football – managers, club officials – they will basically all tell you that Cantona is fake. That he has built his image, that he wasn’t as good a player as people make him out to be.’ 

Mixed reviews

Genuine or fake, Cantona certainly hasn’t chosen an easy option for his stage debut. Face au Paradis is not a crowd-pleasing comedy, but a new play about a dying man trapped under rubble – 90 minutes of dialogue with little action. The audience at the first night performance was enthusiastic, but many of those present were die-hard fans of Cantona the footballer.

His performance has drawn mixed reactions from the critics: The Times Online described him as not great but credible, and said he pulled off “an extraordinary gamble”. The Independent, however, said watching Cantona act was like watching the great French actor Gerard Depardieu play football – “fascinating, not because it was done well but because of who was trying to do it".

Eric Cantona himself is not fazed by the reviews, reacting with his trademark nonchalance. 

“Some people will like it, some people will not like it. But every day I have something to prove to myself and nothing to prove to other people. The something I have to prove to myself – is to keep my eyes open on the world. This wonderful world.”

Face au Paradis will run at the Theatre Marigny in Paris for the next three months.