In 1958, Manchester United's legendary 'Busby Babes' became the youngest side ever to win the football league, but tragedy loomed for the squad. As the team prepared to depart Munich for a European Cup tie, harsh weather conditions led to a disastrous air crash that claimed the lives of 23 people, including eight United players.
BBC Two has assembled an impressive cast for a new dramatisation of the crash and the events that led up to it, simply titled United. Written by Chris Chibnall, the 90-minute drama stars David Tennant as the team's coach and mentor Jimmy Murphy, while Dougray Scott plays manager Matt Busby.
Much of the story though is told through the eyes of a young Bobby Charlton, played by former Skins actor Jack O'Connell. The self-professed "big football fan" told DS that playing Charlton was "probably the biggest honour of my career".
"My granddad was in the [football] industry," he explained. "He educated me on Bobby Charlton ever since I was a kid, so to get that opportunity to play the man himself was amazing. I could talk for days and days about how much of a privilege it was, and how much it meant to me."
Discussing the emotional nature of Chibnall's script, O'Connell revealed that filming United had been "testing".
"It was the roughest shoot I've ever done, especially with the nature of what we were trying to shoot," he revealed. "Because of the reality of it, and the storyline that we had in hand, it meant that when it was minus degree temperatures in Newcastle, and you're stood there in a football shirt and shorts, you felt like whinging a lot less."
He continued: "I found it key to remember the reality of the situation. I knew that the footballers that we were playing were probably out in worse weather when they were training."
The actor also admitted that he is unsure how his performance will be received by football fans, calling Charlton "a legend" and "probably England's best ever player".
"I don't know how people will react to it," he said. "When Bobby Charlton himself, or the people who surround him, or the people who knew that era, tell me that it was believable, then that's when I'll feel like I've proven myself."
United airs this Sunday at 9pm on BBC Two.
http://www.digitalspy.ie/tv/tubetalk...-oconnell.html
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