And of course in America you've got American football and baseball and all those other ball games, soccer has become a little niche that the women have kind of filled.
At times those skills were really hard to do because not only was I having to contend with the camera, but I was having to learn these new skills and the ball was always kind of doing what you didn't want it to do. So it got a little bit frustrating at times but we got there.
At times, I couldn't understand what I was doing. I just knew I needed to stick with it. It was instinct, and that's what I've always relied upon.
Before I started doing the film and when I found out I was going to be doing it, I just decided to pump up on the whole cardio stuff. Just in terms of stamina.
But I think it's also hard to get into soccer here. I think purely on a time level on television as well because of the ad breaks. It's something to do with that as well. You can't show a complete soccer match here. Which I kind of find a bit of an odd thing.
But it's a very universal story and the thing is I was reluctant to answer that question because I don't want people latching on to a particular stereotype.
But we had a fantastic coach, Simon Clifford, who runs a British football youth game which teaches Brazilian techniques - which is what we wanted to incorporate into the film. And some of those things we eventually got in.
But, I'm very conscious of that: not wanting to be pigeonholed in playing teen roles. Because, um, I'm not anymore.
Football is a passion that she holds dear to her heart. She's really going for her dream and there are obstacles in the way, but deep down she knows what she wants, and she pursues that.
I can pretty much tell the whole story through my eyes. Some of the best actors that you watch don't have to physically do too much.
I got to go to Malaysia, Germany, Switzerland, Madrid, America.
I really identified with Jess, because my own dream was acting, which isn't the most conventional profession.
I used to be very athletic at school and kind of keep generally fit although I haven't done so for a long while at the moment.
I was worried people would laugh at me when I started to talk the language, but they were just pleasantly surprised that I could. The sense of humour here is great - once I could have a giggle, I settled down.
I'm a British intern going in. I'm hoping that John will just kind of tackle it from who this person is and what she's about rather than trying to go in on her culture. We need to move a step forward than that.
I'm actually going in to ER as the new British intern.
If I can inspire someone to go in a positive way and pursue a dream, it can only be good.
In London there was an article about all these girls bending it like Beckham, and in India there's this big wave of girls playing football. Wow! I can't believe a movie's done this!
In terms of soccer, it wasn't really a thing that girls did. In England it more kind of Net Ball and Hockey and stuff like that in athletics. It's to each their own, really.
In terms of the frustration of my character, I suppose any teenager has probably gone through that, in terms of telling their parents, I want to do one thing, and their parent says no. I think parents sometimes forget that they were children.
It's been really nice to see different counties that I might never have visited before.
My father in the film - which we probably haven't seen in previous movies, and in British Asian movies you could probably count on one hand - he says exactly why, actually why he's frightened for his daughter. He came to this country, England, and had a bit of a crappy time.
No, I didn't quite know to what extent the football might be, but it was quite a bonus for me to try to learn new skills and to keep fit at the same time.
No, my parents were born in India.
That's what I like about acting. When you're preparing for a role, you do your research, and the bonus is you get to learn these skills. Now, it's on to whatever the next thing is I have to learn.
There's apparently soccer leagues that they've set up with young Indian girls.
Therefore reinforcing a stereotype, therefore thinking that the entire Indian culture is just made of people that are against their children's decisions.
They told me it was for contributions towards football and I thought, what, they?re giving it to an actress? My god! And then they told me I was the first female to have ever received it, which blew my mind even more, especially being a young Asian girl whose home town is Leicester.
According to a 2003 article in the British newspaper The Observer, Parminder is fluent in Punjabi and speaks a passable amount of Bengali.
Parminder Nagra had never played soccer before starring as a teen soccer fanatic in Bend It Like Beckham. To prepare for the film, she and co-star
Parminder has a major burn scar on her upper right leg from a cooking accident she suffered as a seven-year-old. Gurinder Chadha, the writer, director and producer of Bend It Like Beckham, found out about the scar after she had asked Parminder to read for the lead role, but never perceived it as a problem. Instead, Chadha decided to incorporate a story about the scar into the movie.
'Parminder' means "supreme goddess," 'Kaur' means "princess," and the 'Nag' of Nagra means "snake," so her full name, Parminder Kaur Nagra, translates as "Supreme Goddess, Princess of Snakes."
Parminder is a Sikh, born to Sikh parents from the Punjab region of India who emigrated to Great Britain in the 1960s.
Her breakthrough role came when she was cast as the lead in the 2002 surprise hit Bend It Like Beckham.
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