Zayn Malik has apparently been in talks with director Gurinder Chadha as he considers branching out into acting.

The 22-year-old singer quit boyband One Direction last month, and has already been working on solo material with Naughty Boy.

But Gurinder – whose films include Bend It Like Beckham and Angus, Thongs And Perfect Snogging – has told the Daily Mirror that she has been in talks with Zayn about a possible movie role.

Gurinder Chadha has adapted her film for the stage (Ian West/PA)
Gurinder Chadha has chatted to Zayn about acting (Ian West/PA)

Gurinder told the newspaper: “We’ve met and spoken. He trained as an actor first then became part of the band. So I think what he’ll be doing is staying true to his heart – and that’s all you can ever do.”

She added: “I don’t have a part in mind for Zayn just yet but hopefully in the future.”

After making his first public appearance since quitting 1D, Zayn broke his Twitter silence to thank fans and friends for their support since he decided to go solo.

Before then Zayn – who is engaged to Little Mix’s Perrie Edwards – hadn’t tweeted since March 18, when he responded to pictures of him with his arm around an unknown blonde while on tour with One Direction in Asia.

He wrote: “I’m 22 years old… I love a girl named Perrie Edwards. And there’s a lot of jealous f***s in this world I’m sorry for what it looks like.”