David Beckham says Netflix documentary made him and Victoria 'nervous': 'I hated almost every moment of making it'

David Beckham has opened up about the process of starting his Emmy Award-winning documentary “Beckham,” saying the idea of ​​it made him “nervous.”

“It worried me and it made me nervous and it made Victoria nervous,” Beckham said of the four-part doc, which dropped on streamers last year and quickly became a hit. “I hated almost every moment of making it…it was so hard.”

“It took me a long time to accept the fact that I was going to make it but there were a few reasons why we wanted to make it,” he continued. “When I retired I wasn't ready to talk about my career and what happened. Through the pandemic, that's when documentaries really exploded and it's coming up to the 10-year anniversary of my retirement from football.”

“As much as people think they know everything about us they really don't and we don't really open the door to our house but I knew it was the right time and then to tell the story.”

Beckham was speaking at the Royal Television Society conference in London on Tuesday afternoon, where the audience was made up mostly of producers, commissioners and other TV industry professionals.

The former England soccer captain has moved into production in recent years with the launch of his company Studio 99, which produced “Beckham.” The four-part wall gave viewers unprecedented access to the footballer's personal archive as well as interviews with him, his friends and family. A scene, in which he teases his wife Victoria Beckham about whether she is really “working class”, has gone viral.

One of the company's next projects is an as-yet-untitled documentary focusing on Victoria for Netflix.

Once he decided to make the documentary, “it took a while to find the right director,” Beckham said of the project. He eventually landed on “The Cove” director (and “Legacy” actor) Fisher Stevens. Stevens said last year diversity Leonardo DiCaprio recommended him for the job.

“When I met Fisher I knew this guy was going to make me really uncomfortable and I knew I had to be uncomfortable to make the documentary we were making,” Beckham said.

While some criticized the doc – which clearly did not address the soccer star's rumored relationship with his former assistant Rebecca Luce – for not being objective enough, Beckham was an executive producer on it, with the former athlete claiming Stevens was given free reign to cover what he wanted

“Through the whole documentary, from day one, I said, 'I don't want to see anything until it comes out,'” he said of his influence on what's in it. “I didn't go into editing, I didn't see any cuts, I wanted to let Fisher have that control. It took quite a bit of convincing to bring him on board.”

In the end, however, Beckham said he and Victoria “loved the results” — no doubt why they're both returning to make documentaries about Victoria.

“I'm really excited about it because she's an amazing woman,” Beckham said of his wife. “She's a strong, driven, passionate person who has gone from being a Spice Girl to being respected in this industry, it's very difficult. He worked hard for 18, 19 years for his business and suddenly he got the success he deserved.”

“People are going to see his personality and his work ethic,” he added.

Beckham laughed when asked if he planned to give Victoria the nod as an executive producer on the doc. “Do you know my wife?” he asked before jokingly muttering: “Give my wife the note…”

“I'm pretty excited to give her notes,” he quipped.

Studio 99, which is run by long-time Beckham colleagues Nicola Howson and David Gardner, also produced a number of sports documentaries, including Paramount+ and the snooker doc “Ronnie O'Sullivan: The Edge of the Edge at Fever Pitch: The Battle for the Premier League”. created everything.”

It spawned the Disney+ series “Save Our Squad,” in which Beckham returns to East London to mentor young soccer players.

“We've done a lot and done a lot of different shows,” Beckham said of the company. “Some are talked about more than others but they mean something to us.”

Other speakers at the Royal Television Society conference, which is hosted by Netflix this year, include culture secretary Lisa Nandy, esteemed BBC boss Tim Davey, “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.