David Beckham has opened up about the process of embarking on his Emmy award-winning documentary “Beckham,” saying the idea of it made him “nervous.”
“It worried me and it made me nervous and it made Victoria nervous,” Beckham said of the four-part doc, which dropped on the streamer last year and quickly became a hit. “I hated almost every moment of making it…it was very difficult.”
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“It was really difficult and it took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that I was going to make it but there was a few reasons why we wanted to make it,” he continued. “When I retired I wasn’t ready to talk about my career and what had happened. Through the pandemic it’s when documentaries really exploded and it was coming up to the 10-year anniversary of my retirement from football.”
“As much as people think they know everything about us they don’t really and we don’t really let those doors open to our house but I knew it was the right time and then telling the story.”
Beckham was speaking at the Royal Television Society conference in London on Tuesday afternoon, where the audience was comprised mostly of producers, commissioners and other TV industry professionals.
The former England soccer captain has moved into production in recent years, with the launch of his company Studio 99, which produced “Beckham.” The four-part wall gave viewers unprecedented access into the footballer’s personal archives as well as interviews with him, his friends and family. One scene, in which he teased his wife Victoria Beckham over whether or not she’s really “working class” went viral.
One of the company’s next projects is an as-yet untitled documentary focusing on Victoria for Netflix.
Once he’d decided to make the documentary, “finding the right director took a while,” Beckham said of the project. Eventually he landed on “The Cove” director (and “Succession” actor) Fisher Stevens. Last year Stevens told Variety it was Leonardo DiCaprio who recommended him for the job.
“When I met Fisher I knew this is the man that will make me feel really uncomfortable and I knew I had to feel uncomfortable to make the documentary we made,” said Beckham.
Although some criticized the doc — which didn’t explicitly tackle the soccer star’s rumored affair with his former assistant Rebecca Loos — for not being objective enough, given Beckham was an executive producer on it, the former athlete claims Stevens was given free reign to cover what he wanted. “Through the whole documentary from Day One I said I don’t want to see anything until it comes out,” he said of his influence over what it contained. “I didn’t go into the edit, I didn’t see any cuts, I wanted to let Fisher have that control. It took quite a bit of convincing to get him on board.”
Ultimately, however, Beckham said he and Victoria “loved the results” — which is no doubt why they’re both returning to make the documentary about Victoria.
“I’m really excited about this one because she is an amazing woman,” Beckham gushed of his wife. “She’s a strong, driven, passionate person who’s gone from being a Spice Girl to being respected in this industry, it’s very tough. She’s worked hard for 18, 19 years on her business and suddenly she’s having the success she deserves.”
“People are going to see her personality and her work ethic,” he added.
When asked whether, as an executive producer on the doc, he planned to give Victoria notes, Beckham burst out laughing. “Do you know my wife?” he asked before jokingly muttering: “Give my wife notes…”
“I’m quite excited to give her notes,” he quipped.
Studio 99, which is run by longtime Beckham colleagues Nicola Howson and David Gardner, has also produced a number of sporting documentaries including “Fever Pitch: The Battle for the Premier League” on Paramount+ and snooker doc “Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Everything.”
It also made the Disney+ series “Save Our Squad,” which saw Beckham return to East London to mentor young football players.
“We’ve done so many things and made so many different shows,” Beckham said of the company. “Some are talked about more than other but they all mean something to us.”
Other speakers at the Royal Television Society conference, which this year is hosted by Netflix, include culture secretary Lisa Nandy, beleaguered BBC boss Tim Davie, “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.
