26-05-2015, 11:35 AM
Quote:A search is under way for a young footballer to play Manchester United legend George Best in a film about his life.
Film producer Stephen Evans said he hoped to find a talented player in Northern Ireland who could portray the "genius" Best.
Last year, rising Spanish junior golfer José Luis Gutiérrez, 15, got to play his idol Seve Ballesteros in the acclaimed movie Seve, produced by Mr Evans.
He told BBC World Service programme Sportshour that he hoped to do something similar with Best.
"It took me about a year to find a young Seve to play him - in the end, I did but it took me a long time," he said. "The plan is literally starting in a couple of weeks' time, to find a young Northern Irish boy who can play the young Best between about 11 and 17."
"What we want to do then is unravel, if you like, the childhood and youth of George Best, and exactly where he came from and how he did what he did."
Widely regarded as one of the greatest players to have graced British and world football, Best died in November 2005 at the age of 59.
Mr Evans, whose film credits include The Madness of King George, said he wanted to capture what Best's life was like before he was catapulted to major stardom at an early age after leaving his home city of Belfast.
"Don't forget that, having gone to Manchester at the age of 15, at 22 he was the European footballer of the year, and probably at that point the most recognised footballer on the planet," he said.
The leap from Best's humble beginnings to his almost unprecedented fame at the heart of the "swinging 60s" and being dubbed the "fifth Beatle" is something Mr Evans says he wants to explore.
"He had a shy background and he didn't get a lot help from Manchester United because no-one really understood that this is a new thing that's happening," he said.
But what about the ideal candidate to play the young Best?
"We're going to Belfast and we'll be saying to all the very good young footballers in Northern Ireland, do you want to come and interview through your football skills for the job?"
He jokingly added: "He is a legendary genius, so I would think if they're not mad on George Best I'd tell them not to turn up."
Source: BBC Sport