John Carew

John Alieu Carew was born on September 5, 1979, in Lørenskog, Norway. He began his football career with local club Lørenskog before joining Vålerenga in 1997. During his time at Vålerenga, he contributed to the team’s promotion to Tippeligaen and a Norwegian Football Cup victory. His early career was marked by his physical presence and goal-scoring ability, which drew considerable attention. In 1999, Carew moved to Rosenborg, one of Norway’s most successful clubs, where his impressive performances, particularly in the Champions League, led to a transfer to Spanish club Valencia in 2000.

At Valencia, Carew won the La Liga title in 2002 and was part of the squad that reached the 2001 UEFA Champions League Final. He continued his career with loan spells at AS Roma in Italy (2003-2004) and then permanent transfers to Beşiktaş in Turkey (2004-2005) and Olympique Lyonnais in France (2005-2007), where he won the Ligue 1 title in 2006. In 2007, he moved to Aston Villa in the English Premier League, becoming a fan favorite and the club’s top scorer in the 2007-08 season. He also had loan spells with Stoke City and concluding his football career with West Ham United in 2012.

Following his retirement from professional football in 2012, Carew embarked on an acting career. His first film role was in ‘Dead of Winter’ (2014), followed by appearances in ‘Høvdinger’ (2015) and the Norwegian TV series ‘Heimebane’ (2018-2019), where he played an ex-professional footballer. Notably, he also featured in Disney’s ‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’ (2019) as a Jungle Warrior and in the TV mini-series ‘The Playlist’ (2022). He continues to take on diverse acting roles, participating in upcoming projects such as ‘Young Woman and the Sea’ (2024) and ‘Purk’ (2024).