Despite all those years of playing international cricket, all those days taking on world's best batsmen in front of huge crowds, Brett Lee is feeling edgy as his first major film heads for cinemas.
"I've never been nervous bowling but I'll still be a bit nervous," the former Australian fast bowler said of Wednesday's premiere of the romantic comedy UnIndian, which opens in cinemas next week. "Or more anxious rather than nervous."
"The hard work has been done in terms of the film and I'm really pleased with how it's come up."
Lee, who retired from internationals three years ago with 310 Test and 380 ODI wickets, plays a teacher who introduces migrants to Australian language and culture in director Anupam Sharma's debut film.
Indian actress Tannishtha Chatterjee, best known for Brick Lane and Anna Karenina, plays a divorced executive who upsets her family and the wider Indian-Australian community by falling for the charismatic blonde Aussie.
Set in Sydney, the first project of the Australia India Film Fund generates comedy from the clashing of cultures as the romance develops.
While Lee has had a cameo playing himself in a Bollywood movie and is clearly comfortable in front of the camera in commercials and TV cricket commentary, he found acting in the $4.5 million film harder than expected.
"The part I thought would be easy and the part I thought would be hard were completely reversed," he said. "I thought the hardest part before I started filming was to do the dialogue.
"There's about 119 scenes, which is pages and pages of dialogue. To try and memorise that, I thought I had absolutely no chance of doing that.
"I thought the acting part would be easier. But when I looked back after completing the movie, the dialogue came easier.
"When you've read it so many times and you're in the moment, you know the scenes back to front."
Sharma considered Lee perfect casting both because of his marketability and because he was playing a character close to himself - a likeable, down-to-earth Australian with an interest in India.
Even though the star cricketer has to carry the film alongside Chatterjee, he did not consider it a gamble.
"He's the one who's generating all the interest," Sharma said. "He's our trump card and I'm totally happy with his performance.
"So if you want to use the gambling analogy, he's our safest bet in the film."
In a year when Australian films have been succeeding in cinemas, Sharma is hoping audiences respond to the cross-cultural romance in the way they have with Bend It Like Beckham and My Big Fat Greek Wedding in the past.
"It looks at cross-cultural love affairs, which are becoming more and more common, not through a judgmental eye but through comedy, through music, through colour, with a hopefully engaging story."
Lee, who had acting and voice coaching before stepping on set, is open to more film roles depending on the reaction to UnIndian.
"I've always said I just want to wait and see how this one goes," he said. "I really just want to enjoy the next couple of weeks.
"Once all that's done and dusted, if people enjoy it and want to see more, I'd love to."
