'Beckham' director told David to leave after he called out wife Victoria for her 'working class' confession
"Beckham" director Fisher Stevens is sharing details about what it was like working with the soccer star, what he cut out of the documentary and the most surprising thing he learned about him.
Since the release of "Beckham," stories about David and Victoria Beckham's lives have dominated the internet.
Topics included in the four-part docuseries were the rise of the soccer star's career, intimate family moments and Posh Spice revealing the hardest time in her 24-year marriage to David.
"I don’t think the guy ever sat for more than 20 minutes in his life and talked about himself," director Fisher Stevens admitted to the Hollywood Reporter of David while unpacking the docuseries.
Recounting one moment in particular that took the internet by storm – when David called out his wife for claiming she grew up "working class" – Stevens shared that the moment was completely unscripted, and David was not supposed to be home.
"It was our first interview with Victoria — and, honestly, I had no idea David was listening. He was supposed to be taking [his daughter] Harper to school," Stevens told the outlet. "I guess he got back and decided that he was going to kind of listen in to the interview."
He continued, "I have a great cameraman, and he just knew to just go right on his face when he popped in beyond the door. I knew it was great. But at the same time, oh my God, I told him he had to leave. I’m like, ‘Dude, you’ve got to get out of here and let me talk to your wife. Come on.’ But I was really glad we got that."
Steven, a documentarian and actor, also noted what sold him on the project: when Beckham approached him, saying, "I want to do this."
"I watched a lot of interviews with him and I knew that I needed to go at it a different way, shoot it a different way and make him feel comfortable," Stevens said. "I needed a lot of time with him."
As for Victoria, Fisher said Posh Spice approached the interview differently. "Victoria is much more facile with language and talking and feelings and emotions," he stated.
Stevens continued, "David has shut most of it down, so I knew it would take time to get it out. I think he’s just at a place in his life where he’s finally ready to relive moments that he’s pushed away. British people, not to generalize, they’re not the most talky-feely about their lives and their emotions like [Americans] are."
Beckham's production company, Studio 99, was also involved in the project. Even though David was involved in the docuseries as the subject and a producer, Stevens had the final decision on what made it into the show and what did not.
This was difficult for Beckham.
"I just said, ‘If I’m doing this, we have to talk about your whole life. Everything, the ups and the downs.’ To him, the 2003 stuff in Madrid, the tabloid stuff was really tough for him," Stevens said.
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The director noted that he opted to leave out the footage they shot of David recounting the Qatar World Cup. Per the Hollywood Reporter, "Beckham was widely criticized by the LGBTQ community for his role as ambassador to the event, given the host nation’s human rights record."
In addition, even though both David and Victoria lived their lives in the public eye (and not much was left unknown about them), Stevens was still shocked to learn just how badly soccer fans treated Beckham after the infamous red card incident at the World Cup in 1998.
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"I couldn’t believe the abuse they took," Stevens said of David and Victoria. "It was something that David had explained to me when he told me he wanted to do this because I had no idea. I can’t believe the abuse he took everywhere he went — even in Los Angeles. But he always turns it around. And to me, that’s so admirable. I don’t know, many human beings are not capable to do what David did."
Stevens continued, "The other thing about him that I found fascinating was his compulsive behavior with everything. It’s why he does everything 100 percent. He won’t do it unless he knows he can tackle it. Whether it’s beekeeping, being an incredible chef or, obviously, he’s obsessed with cleanliness and cleaning and order. I had to really convince him to let me film some of that stuff. He didn’t want me to."
