TRUTH EXPOSED
Louis Theroux gets real
He may be renowned for uncovering some of the darkest parts of humanity, however, for someone who is such a crusader of truth, Louis Theroux is surprisingly private. The documentary filmmaker, journalist and broadcaster will head to Australia next year in January to share some secrets from behind the scenes of filming his award-winning docos in a brand-new live show, Louis Theroux Without Limits. One thing you won’t hear the 49-year-old talking much about, however, is his wife, Nancy Strang, a TV director, and their three sons, Albert, 14, Frederick, 11, and Walter, 4.
Theroux – whose cousin is American actor and Jennifer Aniston’s ex Justin Theroux – speaks candidly to WHO about his family life and what they really think about the often dangerous and disturbing things he gets up to while filming.
What’s something people might not know about you?
One of the big behind-the-scenes struggles is balancing my work life and my home life. The sense of wanting to do the right thing by my team at work and make sure the shoot isn’t compromised by me leaving early for some reason, to get back for a child’s birthday or something like that. And at the same time, I’m balancing the needs of my family life and my desire to be a present parent and husband.
Do your wife and kids worry about you when you’re off filming?
Do they worry about me? I think they don’t worry about me. I think they know that I’ve got a lot of support. And, if anything, I think my wife probably thinks I’m too pampered at work, and sort of thinks, “You have it easy. You just fly off, you sit, reading your book and eating your salted peanuts on a plane for eight hours. You’re riding to a nice hotel.” So she would, I think, see me as a rather indulged figure, as opposed to someone she would worry too much about.
What has been one of the most shocking moments you’ve found yourself in over the years?
I had an experience last year making a program about polyamory, which is people having non-exclusive romantic relationships, and I went to a workshop. I thought it was incumbent on me to push myself a bit and I had this sort of extraordinary experience of feeling utterly immersed in a polyamorous event where it was getting quite frisky, and it was strange. There was sort of sexual moaning and groaning going on, and
I was in some way involved in it.
Do you sometimes feel like you’ve gone too far while filming?
Yes! Actually, that’s what editing is for. And I also have a team around me. It’s a bit like when you’re scuba diving, it’s the buddy system, you never scuba dive alone.
It’s too dangerous.
Is there anything you won’t do for the sake of a doco?
There’s obviously one. Clearly, I’m not going to do anything that’s going to make my wife too uncomfortable. I’ve got marriage vows, I’m a happily married man. I also wouldn’t do anything to violate, obviously, basic ethical norms of trying to be a decent human being, and being kind and thoughtful. I’ve always found myself resistant to taking heavy psychedelic drugs for a program. Over the years, it’s come up a few times, “Well, maybe we should do something about ayahuasca”. What can we expect from the live shows?
A lot of fun, stories from behind the scenes, favourite clips from old shows. And then, on a deeper note, some exploration of what it is that makes people weird, what extent we should aspire to be weird or try to be less weird. I’ve always thought that weirdness is built into the human condition.
Are you going to film something while you’re in Australia as well?
I don’t think we’ve got any plans to make an actual documentary. I think it’ll be a tight schedule. Last time, we did manage to film a couple of little fun bits of segments that we showed during the live show, so I’d like to do that again if we can. But, for me, it’s more about the fun of doing the shows and learning about Australia and meeting people. Is there anything in Australia that you would like to explore in a documentary?
I wish we had longer. In other words, there’s so much. In Australia, you’ve got debates over Australia Day and ‘What are we?’ What of our history do we validate and support, and what part of it do we turn our back on?
Can you see yourself retiring anytime soon?
I sometimes get the sense that [my wife] Nancy thinks that [I will retire soon], and I don’t know that I’ve had the heart to tell her that I don’t see it on the horizon. I just enjoy the promises of making programs too much. So no, I don’t feel I’m about to hang up the microphone soon.
What else are you working on at the moment?
We’ve got two that are in the edit that I’m not allowed to talk about. It’s always good stuff coming down the pipeline.