"Theroux, 55, might be north London dad in appearance—specs, grey T-shirt, black jeans, sneakers—but he's the grandmaster of both the immersive documentary and interview form. The son of American writer Paul Theroux (a nepo baby before they existed), he has built a 30year career in television, much of it at the BBC, making a virtue of being a socially awkward verbivore, hypercurious, super-funny."
"His 90s stuff saw him embedded in American subcultures—Nazis, gun nuts, porn stars, apocalyptic cults—just to see what happened. It was TV of its era in that it was gonzo, shock-driven, perhaps a little ethically unsound in tone and the way that it poked fun at and portrayed its subjects."
"The most famous was with Jimmy Savile before the crimes of the children's presenter became public, to whom he posed the tentative question, People say that you are a paedophile? (He replied, Nobody knows whether I am or not.)"
Louis Theroux is a 55-year-old British documentary filmmaker and interviewer with a 30-year television career, primarily at the BBC. Son of writer Paul Theroux, he built his reputation by embedding himself in American subcultures including extremist groups, cults, and controversial figures. His early work employed gonzo, shock-driven approaches that sometimes raised ethical questions. Over time, his subjects expanded to include prisoners, opioid addicts, and the Church of Scientology. Theroux became famous for his interviews, most notably with Jimmy Savile before the presenter's crimes became public. Recently, he joined the podcast universe and created Netflix's Inside the Manosphere, while also becoming a viral sensation through his 2000 rap composition.
#documentary-filmmaking #immersive-journalism #interview-techniques #controversial-subcultures #media-ethics
Read at www.theguardian.com
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