One Direction: Is Louis Tomlinson Set To Beat Harry Styles To The Silver Screen?

Well, well, it seems that One Direction star Louis Tomlinson could be set to beat bandmate Harry Styles in the race to move from the stage to the silver screen. For the past 12 months, we have heard time and again that filmmakers are keen to sign Styles up for a movie role, but reports are emerging that suggest Tomlinson’s love of soccer may just give him the edge. Tomlinson’s love of soccer, in general, and Doncaster Rovers, in particular, is well known, and Louis even tried to buy a stake in his favorite team.

Tomlinson’s deal may have fallen through, but Louis’ ambition for his hometown club is undiminished. According to numerous reports today, it seems that Tomlinson’s prowess as a player may be the key to him landing a movie role. According to the Daily Mail, producer Adrian Buchart, who penned the hit soccer movie Goal, wants Tomlinson to star in a movie about Jamie Vardy, the Leicester City and England striker.

? Jamie Vardy filming to start after Euro 2016: Louis Tomlinson is the leading candidate to star as Vardy https://t.co/yXVzVvNJSE

— updates ?? (@Gbboybs) March 31, 2016

As Louis’ fans will be well aware, Tomlinson has turned out for Doncaster Rovers reserve side and has played in a number of high-profile charity soccer matches. Tomlinson arguably has an edge on Styles when it comes to acting, as he went to acting school as a kid and had small roles in ITV’s If I Had You and BBC’s Waterloo Road.

As the Mirror reports, Tomlinson’s south Yorkshire accent would also be an advantage should Louis decide the role is for him. Vardy was brought up in Sheffield, just a few miles from Tomlinson’s hometown. Tomlinson and Vardy share a further career similarity in that both were plucked from obscurity and enjoyed a meteoric rise to the very top of their respective professions in a relatively short period of time. When Tomlinson was appearing on The X Factor, Vardy was playing non-league soccer. Vardy only made his Premier League debut for Leicester in 2014, but since then, he has gone on to beat Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s Premier League record by scoring in 11 successive games. He has also scored for England in recent international matches against Germany and Holland.

In many ways, Tomlinson and Vardy’s stories reflect one another, and England fans will be hoping that Vardy can emulate Louis by scaling the peaks of his profession. The BBC shows that with just seven games to go, Vardy’s goals have fired Leicester City to a position five points clear of their nearest Premier League challengers. England fans will be hoping that Vardy can help England to their first international trophy since 1966 when they play in the European championships this summer. Should both teams be successful, then Vardy’s meteoric rise would surely emulate Tomlinson’s in terms of a rags-to-riches story in their respective fields.

Eurosport report that casting Louis in a soccer movie would be a far from bizarre decision, given Tomlinson’s background. Whilst Buchart is keen to cast Tomlinson in the movie as soon as possible, he wants to wait to see how the Premier League and European Championships play out first.

“We are keen to shoot the movie as soon as possible, but we are now going to have to wait until after the Euros to know where the story ends as these unbelievable events continue to unfold.

“There are two things that seemed impossible a few weeks ago, Leicester to win the Premier League, and England to win the Euros. But with every match, fiction and reality seem to be coming together, the story keeps writing itself.”

As one Direction fans are all too aware, Tomlinson has time on his hands at present. Louis and his bandmates are currently enjoying a break to allow them to concentrate on solo projects. Tomlinson is believed to want to concentrate on his fledgling record label, but surely a soccer movie would be a huge temptation for Louis.

Do you think Tomlinson has what it takes to star in a movie? Would you want to watch a soccer focused movie even if it does star Louis Tomlinson? Let us know what you think below.

[Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP]