An Uxbridge actor will appear alongside international football stars in a film hitting cinema screens near you.

Jon-Paul Gates, who has 70 film credits and has lived in Uxbridge for 11 years, plays a radio producer in upcoming football comedy Kicking Off, released on April 21.

Kicking Off is a comedy with a dark edge, starring Warren Brown (Luther, The Dark Knight Rises) and Greg McHugh (Fresh Meat), and features guest appearances from household names: Robbie Savage, Mark Bright and Sir Geoff Hurst, who scored a hat-trick for England to win the world cup in 1966.

Mr Gates said: “It's about two football supporters, and you don't know which team they support, but their team gets demoted and they blame the referee.

“They make him culpable and they decide to concoct a plan to kidnap him.

Former Premier League footballer and TV pundit Robbie Savage joined the Kicking Off cast

'Everybody's got an opinion on football so I think it'll do well'

Originally from Greenford, the 38-year-old actor said it was “great fun” being involved in the production.

He said: “It was great because, without giving too much away, I played at Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace's football ground because we did quite a lot of the football sequences there.

“That's where I met Sir Geoff Hurst, playing against him was really interesting! That was fun.

“The great thing about this production is, unlike most football films that focus on a particular team, which alienates whoever supports one of the competing teams - if you do a film about Chelsea FC for example, you alienate supporters of Arsenal, Tottenham etc - but the great thing about this film is who don't know which team these two guys support.

"And everybody's got an opinion about football so I think from that perspective it's going to do pretty well.”

As a football fan and Manchester United supporter, Mr Gates yearned to be a professional footballer before getting into acting.

A comedy in essence, but with a darker edge

During the filming of Kicking Off, he worked directly with Mark Bright and Danielle Bux, Gary Linekar's ex-wife, in his scene as a radio producer, which was mocked up in London.

He continued: “They shot some of the scenes at Selhurst Park but unless you're a Crystal Palace FC supporter you wouldn’t necessarily come to the conclusion that it's shot down there.

Gary Linekar's ex-wife Danielle Bux makes an appearance in Kicking Off (pictured in 2010)

“Even though these guys kidnap the referee and hold him to ransom, they learn a lot more about their relationships and the fact that one of the guys tries to propose to Danielle Bux's character on air and that goes terribly wrong.

“It's a comedy in essence but you also find out about these characters and it's not all quite what it seems.

“There is a darker side to the film especially with kidnapping the referee as it goes slightly wrong and they try and get him to confess.”

Jon-Paul Gates has previously worked with the likes of Danny Trejo (From Dusk Till Dawn, Desperado), Jess Fahey (The Lawnmower Man, Lost).

He added: “I do a lot of independent films both here and in the United States.

“I do quite a lot of gangster films - the last one I did was called Essex Boys Retribution which did quite well on DVD.

“I've got another film coming out called Ghost on May 27 which is a Most Haunted (TV series) fan film.

“I've played a huge variety of roles - from serial killers to soldiers suffering PTSD - you name it I've done it.”

Kicking Off will be out in cinemas from April 21.