This week marks the eagerly-anticipated release of Borg Vs McEnroe, the film from director Janus Metz about the 1980 Men’s Wimbledon Final between Bjorn Borg (Svennir Gudnason) and John McEnroe (Shia LeBeouf) and the titanic battle that ensued.

When the final was first broadcast, the event gripped much of Europe particularly as many countries only had a couple of channels and it was the only thing to watch. On the event itself, director Metz said:

“Well in Denmark there was only one channel and it showed all of Wimbledon every year! Me and Svennir are too young to remember the actual match but for me of course Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe were huge figures in my childhood so they were there and very present. I remember the excitement of everyone waiting for McEnroe to blow a fuse and those images of him freaking out where there when I was making the movie.”

Gudnason added that it was even harder to escape the Borg mania as he had even less television options, adding:

“I was two years old in 1980 and growing up in Iceland we didn’t even have television on Thursdays! But Bjorn was as much of a figure in Iceland as he was in the rest of the world – he was like Michael Jackson.”

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Alongside Gudnason is the firecracker of talent that is Shia LaBeouf who produces perhaps his best performance of his career as John McEnroe, tennis’ bad boy. For Metz, casting the Transformers star was easy as the similarities between the two were obvious – and made his job a little easier, saying:

“Well for me the parallel’s between Shia and McEnroe are obvious – they have both had a lot of controversy around their lives nd both have felt misunderstood by the media and perhaps what is more interesting is that they are both people who use their emtions to create a sense of intensity, either as an actor or as a tennis player and that’s a very difficult thing to do but also very skillful thing.”

Unlike their on-screen chemistry and rivalry, Gudnason says he very much enjoyed working alongside LeBeouf and that he was perfect for the role, sadding:

“I think Shia is a brilliant actor, one of the best actors I’ve ever workedwith – he’s so good at using his energy in such a good way, to use it in the right moments and get everybody on their toes is great. It was a real pleasure working with him and he is so true in every moment.”

You can check out the full interview with the duo below.

Borg vs McEnroe opens in UK cinemas on September 22nd.