Marc Cucurella has three young children, and this may have factored into the Spain and Chelsea left-back admitting to watching the same kids’ film twice every day
Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella appears to have been heavily influenced by his young children, with the Spanish international revealing he watches Disney favourite The Lion King twice every day.
Cucurella, 26, has three young children, Mateo, Rio and Claudia, with his partner Claudia Rodriguez. The footballer’s family feature from time to time on his Instagram account, and they shared a Christmas photo at the end of 2024.
The Lion King was remade in 2019, with another film in the franchise released last year. However, when identifying his favourite film, Cucurella didn’t specify whether he preferred the 2019 edition or the 1994 animated version featuring music from Elton John.
In an interview with TNT Sports as part of the broadcaster’s ’20 questions’ segment, Cucurella was asked to name his favourite film. Without missing a beat, he knew his answer. “The Lion King,” Cucurella said. “I watch The Lion King maybe twice each day, so I want to choose this one.”
Cucurella hasn’t given many interviews about his private life, but spoke to Spanish-language outlet La Media Inglesa in January about son Mateo’s autism. “An autistic child doesn’t understand things like his siblings, you have to learn to understand him,.” the Chelsea man said.
“It affects him a lot, you don’t see him well and you don’t know how to help him. He didn’t do well at regular school, he got upset, he wasn’t happy. He didn’t adapt, he stayed crying all the time.
“He would spend two or three hours and he didn’t like it, we had to go and get him. That also affects you a lot, you don’t see your child well and you don’t know how to help him.”
Do you like The Lion King as much as Marc Cucurella? Let us know in the comments section
Former Brighton star Cucurella isn’t the only footballer to share an unconventional taste in films. Ex-England striker Michael Owen once claimed to have only ever watched eight films, though the tally had grown to 13 by 2017.
“I like factual stuff. I don’t like being kidded by anything,” Owen told Shortlist after revealing he’d watched ‘Creed’ on a flight but would have preferred a documentary.
“That’s my problem with films: I just can’t believe it. I sit there, thinking, ‘I wonder how many takes that took?’ and ‘is that a stuntman?’ The big action fights are so far-fetched I shake my head in disbelief: people shooting each other, rolling over with bullets just missing them, jumping off of trains. How can anyone believe that?”
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