Louis Theroux finds it easier to make documentaries in America because he is not so famous there.
Louis Theroux too famous for UK documentaries
The 54-year-old broadcaster and author has worked on a number of documentaries in the US, including 'Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends' – where he investigated some of the fringe groups in the country, including alien enthusiasts, evangelists, and swingers – but he doesn’t think he could do the same in the UK anymore because he is too well known.
Speaking on the This Past Weekend podcast, he said: “I'm not that well known in America. If I did a documentary in the UK, I'd be pretty well known.
"And it's fine, you could still do it. In some ways, it generates more goodwill because they're like, 'Oh, we like Louis, we'll let him in.'
“Off camera, you're maybe doing selfies and whatnot, which is fine, although it kind of eats into your time a bit.
"And you think, 'I'm supposed to be a serious journalist, slightly flying under the radar, and here I am doing selfies at a riot.' Do you know what I mean?
“I'm like, 'I really need to be filming this right now. So sorry, someone's being arrested over there.' 'Oh, just a quick selfie, come on, mate.'
"In America, however, I'm just going around Miami jail. No one's going to ask me for a selfie there. Do you know what I mean? And I love that part.”
Louis' latest project for Netflix, 'Tell Them You Love Me', tells the controversial story of a New Jersey professor convicted of sexually abusing a nonverbal man with cerebral palsy.
Theroux has executive produced the film, which documents the true story of Anna Stubblefield and Derrick Johnson.
Louis previously told Tudum: “I came to this story originally via a New York Times article, maybe 10 years ago, and I was riveted by it. It sat on the fault lines of so many big social questions — around race, sexuality, and, yes, disability.”
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