John Carew: Angelina Jolie’s BFF

The ex-aston Villa targetman is set to star alongside Angelina Jolie, following TV dramas in Norway and Ukraine

“John Carew, Carew / He’s bigger than me and you / He’s in Maleficent 2 / John Carew, Carew...”

The former Aston Villa, Valencia and Norway forward has a new chant, after making it big in the acting world. If he isn’t playing the leading character in an award-winning Norwegian drama, or starring in a Ukrainian TV series, he’s rubbing shoulders with Angelina Jolie in a bona fide American blockbuster.

Carew got his big break in 2014 with Canadian film Dead of Winter, before landing a role in his homeland courtesy of Høvdinger (‘Chiefs’), where he played a mafia gang leader. He’s now starring in a drama called Heimebane (‘Home Ground’, right), about a woman who’s coaching a men’s top-tier football team.

“It’s a really big role in probably the biggest TV show ever made in Norway, in terms of budget,” the 39-year-old tells Fourfourtwo. “I had eight weeks of test filming to prove I could do it, so it took a lot out of me, but it was a great experience. It made me even happier when I finally got the part.”

Heimebane has won several awards and been syndicated to a growing list of countries already. Carew is the assistant manager in series two, currently being aired. “It’s gone amazingly well,” says the former striker, who also played for Stoke and West Ham. “Everybody loves football, so the platform is perfect, but it’s not really a show about football. It’s a drama where you’re following four or five people in their private lives and the challenges they have to face.”

Carew also played the principal role as a former boxer in a pilot shown on Ukraine TV in February. If all goes well, a full series will be given the go-ahead.

To cap it all off, he spent three weeks on the set of Maleficent 2, directed by compatriot Joachim Rønning and due to come out in 2020, joining a cast list including Jolie, Michelle Pfeiffer, Juno Temple, Elle Fanning, Chiwetel Ejiofor and the dad from My Family.

“I don’t get starstruck, to be honest,” says Carew. “When you’re working with talented people and you have a meet and greet on the first day, you admire them for their talent. However, at some point I was one of the best in the world at what I did – football – and they are among the best at what they do.

“I was on set with Angelina Jolie and she’s such a talented actress – amazing, one of the best. To watch her perform was so inspiring.”

But can she, like Carew, do it on a wet Wednesday night in Stoke? We’ll have to wait for Maleficent 3 to find out – as long as FFT gets to write the script, anyway...