Louis Theroux has opened up about how his documentaries have changed over the years as he prepares to hit screens again in Louis Theroux’s Forbidden America on the BBC.
The prolific documentary-maker rose to prominence after stints spent with the likes of alien enthusiasts, evangelists, and swingers for Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends in the 90s.
Louis said that in the 25 years since then he has continued to focus on stories and people that come under a “sense of judgement”, sometimes justified and other times not.
However, he said that in other respects his work has changed, explaining: “Early on I used to participate in the story - I would take a role in a gay porn film, for example, I stripped naked and had my prospects assessed by the leading porn agents.
“But now I'm 51, no one needs to see me naked, especially not a porn agent.
“I've got a different way of working but I do try to hold on to that feeling that the people that I'm among - as different as they may seem on the surface - are in important ways quite similar to me.”
Louis described his documentary style as a “hybrid” of passively letting things unfold on the screen and taking a more confrontational presenter role in proceedings.
“I'm a little more confrontational and I'm 51 - I'm a tiny bit more serious,” he said. “I'm trying to take on subjects that I'm really curious about.”
“I'm an older man, so I'm more comfortable bringing the fight - hopefully not physically, that would be inappropriate - but being a more robust questioner.”
The three-part series Louis Theroux’s Forbidden America comes to BBC screens next week.
The documentaries look at the impact of the internet and social media on some of the most controversial areas of American entertainment, including the far-right and the porn industry.
To prepare, Louis said he tried to learn as much as possible about the subjects and have a good idea of where the film was going to go before filming.
He said: “As much as I probably look like I'm blundering around, I really do try and get across the material, the research.
“These are all very personal stories in a way - without getting into the research that I did for the porn film,” he laughed. “Sorry, that's a bad attempt at a joke.”
The three-part series was a long time in the making, as the BBC team had been due to fly to the US to film in March 2020, shortly before the coronavirus lockdown in the UK.
They finally began a year later in early 2021 and the series is now hitting TV screens another year later.
Louis said: “Without droning on, the filming was a nightmare with respect to Covid and visas.
“These were all filmed at a time when most of the UK was under some form of some restrictions, so we didn't recce in the way that we normally do because it was so complicated to get in and out of the country.
“It's a good series that was put together in extremely trying circumstances.”
The new series Louis Theroux’s Forbidden America starts on Sunday February 13 at 9pm on BBC Two and iPlayer.
