Soccer legend David Beckham’s Emmy award-winning Netflix documentary, “Beckham,” took fans around the globe behind the curtain for one of the most polarizing athletes of the century.
But Beckham himself revealed to Variety that he “hated almost every moment of making it.”
“It worried me and it made me nervous and it made Victoria nervous,” Beckham said about the documentary, which was broken down into four parts last year.
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“It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that I was going to make it, but there were a few reasons why we wanted to make it. 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.”
Beckham did have his Studio 99 produce the documentary, which got deep into his personal life with his wife and family as well as his legendary soccer career, starting at Manchester United and ending with Paris Saint-Germain in 2013. And of course, his international games with England were on display as well.
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But the four-part series dove deep into his trials and tribulations, both personally and professionally, which required “the right director” to portray, and Beckham ended up choosing Fisher Stevens to do so.
Variety spoke to Stevens, who said Leonardo DiCaprio recommended him for the director role.
But Beckham wasn’t looking for someone that would sugarcoat his life’s journey up to that point. He wanted someone unequivocally raw.
“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.
So, the hatred that he felt wasn’t because he didn’t like the finished product. It was the material, reflecting on tough personal moments and reliving his most traumatizing times on the pitch that made him and his family nervous.
Some, however, did criticize the lack of content regarding Beckham’s rumored affair with his former assistant Rebecca Loos, who, in April 2004, alleged that she and him had a four-month affair during his time playing for Real Madrid. Beckham would go on to say the rumors were “ludicrous,” but there is still doubt in some camps that was the case.
But, for this documentary, Beckham said he did not see the finished product until it was released.
“Through the whole documentary, from Day One I said, ‘I don’t want to see anything until it comes out,’” he said regarding his influence on Stevens’ work. “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.”
In the end, both Beckham and his wife “loved the results,” and the documentary being critically acclaimed shows how well it was received.
Beckham’s Studio 99 has an untitled documentary in the works with Netflix that focuses on Victoria’s life as well.
