When it comes to football references in pop culture, Bend It Like Beckham has remained a fan favourite since its release back in 2002. Directed by Gurinder Chadha, the movie followed British Indian woman Jesminder ‘Jess’ Bhamra’s (Parminder Nagra) plight to pursue professional football, despite her Punjabi parents’ desires for her to focus on her studies and eventually find a nice brown boy to marry.
Whether it was the fancy footwork on the field, the friendship between Jess and Jules (Keira Knightley), the exploration of dual-cultural identity, or the Indian wedding photographer’s hilarious antics (“Eyes down. Don’t smile. Indian bride never smiles. You’ll ruin the bloody video”)… chances are this film resonated with you and made you smile in some way.
Someone else who’s no doubt a fan of the film is Matildas captain Sam Kerr, who’s previously mentioned that she’s seen it “multiple times”.
In an interview published on Sport Bible in 2022, the Australian soccer player was asked if there were any influential figures she looked up to when she was younger.
“I guess Ronaldo, obviously. But I loved Becks, blond hair, Bend It Like Beckham,” she said, referring to professionally footballers Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham and then of course, the movie.
“Have you watched the film?” the interviewer asked, to which she responded, “Yeah, many times”.
@sportbible Could be a singer when she retires 😂 #fyp #foryoupage #sportbible #samkerr #samkerrfans #samkerredit #samanthakerr #australia #australian #football #soccer #fifa #fifa23 #fifa23ultimateteam #cristianoronaldo #davidbeckham #lizziemcguire #singing #womensfootball #viral #trending ♬ original sound – SPORTbible
Besides the women in football angle and the mention of Beckham in the title, Sam’s connection to the movie runs deeper because of her own cultural background. Sam’s father Roger was born in Kolkata, India to an English father and Indian mother. In an interview with Forbes back in 2021, Sam spoke about her South Asian heritage and the role she can play in helping represent Indian women in soccer.
“My Indian heritage is something I’m really proud of and I know my nanna’s really proud that I’m representing young Indian girls whenever I go out there and play,” she told the publication, referring to her paternal grandmother, Coral, who since passed away in 2025 at age 90.
She shared a similar sentiment in a chat with BBC in 2020. “I’ve been speaking to my family about ways I could help be a role model for young Indian girls,” she said at the time.
“My family’s been in Australia 40 years now and I still don’t know a whole lot about India. I’m really proud to be Indian and love my skin colour and love my ‘Indian complexion’, as my Nana says.”
Sam also spoke about her grandmother’s big decision to migrate to Australia from India with her family, where they felt “like outsiders” at time when Australian “wasn’t very multicultural”.
“It was hard for my dad to be accepted as a dark-skinned man in Australia. Listening to what they went through has really influenced who I am and taught me to accept people for who they are,” she said.
Sam is back in the limelight at the moment, as the Matildas compete in the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup as one of 12 teams alongside Korea Republic, India, IR Iran, Philippines, DPR Korea, China PR, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Japan, Vietnam and Chinese Taipei.
On Tuesday March 17, the Matildas will go up against China PR in the first semi-final at Perth Stadium.
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