Cantona takes a flying leap into French fantasy

If Eric Cantona could come back as a woman, he would like to be Diana, Princess of Wales, in heaven.

In one of the rare interviews he has given since his retirement, the footballer turned actor said he was "enormously moved" by Diana's death. Cantona, 31, was then asked by the French cinema magazine, Premiere, to give a series of instant responses to simple questions.

If he could come back as a flower, he said he would like to be a marguerite; if he came back as a tree, he would like to be a pine tree in summer, with cicadas in its branches. Asked what woman he would like to be, Cantona replied; "I would be Lady Di, where she is today."

The former king of Manchester, described by the magazine as "the youngest retired person in France", was photographed for the interview made up like a Maori, with half his face covered in swirls of mock tatooes.

A French film producer, Paul Rassam, has predicted that Cantona will become "the new star of the French cinema".