Weird & wonderful
He’s made a career out of filming his encounters with famous people as well as with the downright strange, but what does that make Louis Theroux? Interview: Jeremy Taylor Photography: Rex Features Louis Theroux’s wide-eyed expression, thick glasses and tousled locks might make him appear to be naïve but don’t be fooled. The award-winning presenter has [...]
He’s made a career out of filming his encounters with famous people as well as with the downright strange, but what does that make Louis Theroux?
Interview: Jeremy Taylor
Photography: Rex Features
Louis Theroux’s wide-eyed expression, thick glasses and tousled locks might make him appear to be naïve but don’t be fooled. The award-winning presenter has tripped up some of the biggest names in show business as well as some of the world’s most controversial figures, despite looking as innocent as a choirboy (or, perhaps, because of it).
The son of celebrated American travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux rose to fame in 2000 hosting the BBC documentary series Weird Weekends. Each programme delved into the lives of America’s strangest and most colourful characters, often with hilarious results. After picking up a BAFTA for Best Presenter in 2001, he cemented his reputation for revealing people’s fascinating eccentricities with When Louis Met…. The series introduced viewers to the private lives of British celebrities such as Sir Jimmy Savile, disgraced Conservative MP Neil Hamilton and publicist Max Clifford. It clinched another BAFTA in 2002.
Today, the presenter is in London’s Charlotte Street Hotel, facing a barrage of questions aimed at himself for a change. He’s here to promote The Louis Theroux Collection, a DVD of the best clips from his shows which makes for riveting viewing, unless you are one of his “victims”, of course.
In 2006 he signed a three-year contract with the BBC to make a further 10 documentaries, the third one of which will be screened on BBC2 this autumn. Entitled Under The Knife, it has the potential to prove the most painful of Theroux’s work yet. “You’ll see me undergoing liposuction at a Californian plastic surgery,” Theroux explains. “I think it will show exactly what people go through and perhaps understand more about why they do it.”
Theroux, 37, lives in London with his partner Nancy and their two-year-old son Albert. He was born in Singapore in 1970 and the family later moved to London where Theroux was educated at exclusive Westminster School. It has a tradition of encouraging independent thinking, perhaps one reason why he takes such an unusual approach to his work. His older brother Marcel also attended Westminster and is now a successful writer and journalist.
Theroux went on to attend Magdalen College, Oxford where he gained a First in Modern History but was unsure of his next step. “My father was a writer so I ended up in America working as a journalist for an offbeat title called Metro Silicon Valley.” His big break came when the controversial filmmaker Michael Moore made him a correspondent for his TV Nation series. “I had no TV experience, yet he put me there. He hired me not just to be a writer but to appear and at 23 years old it felt like a very big deal,” Theroux remembers. “I credit him with giving me that break.”
Theroux was then spotted by the BBC and signed up for his own Weird Weekends series. The subject matter raised a few eyebrows but Theroux’s deadpan interview style
managed to extract unexpected humour and humanity from ‘gangsta’ rappers and porn stars among others.
“I’m not really sure what weird is really,” he says of his interviewees. “I think it’s weird when a place or person appears totally normal: that’s when I start to get worried.” There is very little danger of things appearing “normal” on one of his shows. These include a number of memorable documentaries, such as When Louis Met the Hamiltons in 2001 about disgraced politician Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine, the filming of which coincided with the couple being arrested following false allegations of indecent assault.
Alluding to his When Louis Met Paul and Debbie encounter, he says: “I really enjoyed doing the programme with magician Paul Daniels and his wife. They were so different; you could feel the tension in the air.” The only celebrity to refuse Theroux point blank has been Michael Jackson. So Theroux retaliated by making a programme about trying to set up an interview with the megastar. The result, Louis, Martin & Michael, still made compulsive viewing.
Aside from the small screen Theroux writes for “alternative living” magazine The Idler, a theme that has become close to his heart. “I think everybody should make more time to be idle, in a good way, of course,” he advises. “The secret is to spend time with your family because it’s productive idling, not like watching TV or playing a computer game. So I take Albert to the park or play games with him at home.”
Out of everyone he’s met, who would Theroux not want to invite for Christmas dinner? “I would say ‘no’ to the Reverend Robert Short. He’s an American who believes he has been given a special gift after meeting a space alien. He completely unnerved me – and he would want all the attention.”
The Louis Theroux Collection is released on DVD and is available now (BBC, £29.99)
The Weird & Wonderful World of Louis Theroux
LAS VEGAS
“I’ve been there quite a few times – it feels more bizarre every time. The first was when I made a programme about UFOs. For some reason that part of America
is a prime stopping ground for aliens. “I stayed at the Luxor Hotel, which is shaped like a pyramid. The lifts go up at an angle because of the shape of the building. I went there again because I heard Michael Jackson had bought a sarcophagus from them.”
LEEDS
“This is the home town of Sir Jimmy Savile, OBE. When we did our programme on him he was on top form. I’ve been up there a few times since and we go out for
a pizza near his penthouse. Then it’s back to his flat for a couple of drinks and he has his trademark cigar. “It’s always an adventure with Jimmy, even though
he’s 81. A couple of times I’ve turned up in the summer and he answers the door just wearing a very tiny pair of shorts and gold jewellery. They were hot days though.”
CHICAGO
“We went to film a sequence about Christmas in America. We filmed Santas graduating Santa School in a big department store. I dressed up as Santa and went in
the grotto to give some presents to children. I don’t really have the right Father Christmas look and a child came in, sat on my knee and just started screaming. It is a lot of responsibility being Santa.”
LONDON
“London is pretty weird. It has a quality unlike any other city, being so spread out and hard to get around. I was totally dumbfounded by the weather earlier this summer, which made it even stranger. “I walk around the place and sometimes I feel like a viewer watching a TV programme. There’s just so much going on – where do you start to explain a place like this? I’m an urbanite though, so I don’t think I would survive long living in the country.”
