DAVID BECKHAM - BECKHAM SIGNS ON FOR TEAM DISNEY

BECKHAM SIGNS ON FOR TEAM DISNEY

Soccer ace DAVID BECKHAM has signed up to portray Disney hunk PRINCE CHARMING in a new star-studded campaign to promote Disneyland and Disney World. The Real Madrid star, who hit the headlines earlier this month (JAN07) when he announced plans to sign for Major League Soccer team the LA Galaxy in California, jumped at the chance to play SLEEPING BEAUTY's Prince. Celebrity photographer ANNIE LEIBOVITZ, who is masterminding the campaign, asked Beckham personally to pose for her and when he agreed she flew to his adopted Spain to capture Prince David on horseback near a lake just outside Madrid. Beckham tells newspaper USA Today, "I'm the prince, and I'm sort of slaying the dragon, which is something I've never done before, obviously." The sports superstar jumped at the chance to play a Disney hero - because his three sons are all fans of the studio's animated movies. He explains, "It's a big part of their lives." And snapper Leibovitz admits she was impressed with the soccer stud's acting talents during the shoot, adding that if reports his move to California is partly to pursue his dreams of becoming a movie star are true, she feels he'd make a great leading man. She says, "Saving Sleeping Beauty came natural to him. He's a determined actor, and he became the Prince when he got on that white horse. He was serious about it."