There’s just something about Louis Theroux, isn’t there? And we can’t be the only ones whose eyes widen and hearts flutter time every time there’s mention of a new Lou-Theroux documentary. Or, you know, just any mention of the man himself.
Now that this year's flurry of Louis' new documentaries have been and gone, let's just recap all the brilliant things that maketh the man himself, shall we?
1. He is the king of documentaries. The. King.
Don’t get me wrong, the guy’s been doing the documentary thing for a fair old time (almost 20 years in fact), so it’s no wonder that he’s gotten pretty good at it. But you have to admit – he’s got that je ne sais quoi that gets the most complex and perhaps otherwise difficult to reach people to open up in ways that you either wouldn’t expect or haven’t seen before.
2. His ‘My Scientology Movie’ brought Louis’s face to the big screen
After a long old wait, we were finally blessed with a feature length documentary that took us deep into the church of Scientology. The film was super interesting. He was great. No surprises there. But what’s more is that dispite the challenges of getting behind a religion that has typically been reported as controversial, and you know, the minor detail of being tailed by private investigators during production and receiving threats after production, Louis still managed to keep his cool which to be fair, is what he does best.
3. If you haven’t watched the film, the trailer will still give you Goosebumps
But even if you did watch the film last month, there’s no reason not to re-watch the trailer to get yourself in the mood for that Louis Theroux documentary marathon you’ve totally been planning with your housemates.
4. His wife Nancy Strang is pretty damn cool too
She’s a TV director, so assuming for a moment that this is how genetics works (which it almost deifintely isn’t, but hey) then their kids are basically going to rule the television waves of the future. Right? Fun fact: they appeared on an episode of Pointless together last Christmas. Couple goals?
5. He does have a brother, but no it’s not Justin Theroux
Okay to clarify, yes they are related. But Justin – i.e. husband of Friends legend Jennifer Aniston – is in fact his cousin. And as brilliant a human as Justin is, who wouldn't want Jennifer Aniston for an in-law? His actual brother is called Marcel. He’s a novelist over here in the UK and he and Louis do look really, really similar.
6. Watching Louis Theroux rap is a truly beautiful thing
One of the absolute all-time best clips from the Weird Weekends series. Fact.
7. He’s practically our best friend on Twitter
And very clearly hearts The Debrief.
If that’s not proof I don’t know what is.
8. His net worth doesn’t quite size up to David Attenborough’s
According to super informative, aptly named website richestnetworth.org, Louis Theroux’s net worth is a cool $4million (about 3.2 million pounds) which is no figure to turn your nose down at. On the other hand though, according to the same website smooth talking lord of nature telly, David Attenborough weighs in at $35million which either means people pay more to understand animals than humans, or Louis isn’t the best with money, which would only make us love him more.
9. There was that time he tried to interview Michael Jackson
Back in 2003, Louis tried to interview the King of Pop himself but in the end loses out to Martin Bashir who is offered the rights to the documentary instead. However, in the BBC Two special Louis, Martin & Michael, Louis does manage to get an interview with Joe Jackson, Michael’s dad.
In it we find out about the controversial relationship between the father and son - Joe admits that he had ‘whipped [Michael] with a switch and a belt’ and he doesn’t believe his son is crazy.
10. Louis’ documentaries about Jimmy Saville will probably be spoken about for years
It’s really difficult subject matter that is safe to say shook the UK pretty hard. Ex-Top of The Pops host Jimmy Saville is now best known for the allegations of sexual abuse that dominated headlines for so long. Since Jimmy passed away, Louis often expressed how he wished he had pushed harder and ‘more aggressively’ when he interviewed Jimmy back in 2000.
11. There’s always potential for a new series
Since hearing the really, really great news that Joe, one of the people from Louis’ Drinking To Oblivion documentary, is now one year sober, we can’t help but be on high alert for news of any new shows on the horizon. Especially now that the Scientology movie is out of the way. What’s next Louis? What’s next?!
12. But in the meantime, revisiting episodes of Weird Weekends is always magical
Because what is life without a Theroux documentary on the horizon, eh? When Louis Met The Hamiltons is one of our absolute faves.
13. Oh, and you can totally purchase t-shirts with his face on
Have you ever heard of RedBubble? It's a site where you can find 'uncommon designs by independent artists everywhere'. It looks pretty cool and could well become the next black hole of online shopping you burry yourself into on your commute. Some of their aforementioned designs include t-shirts with Louis Theroux's face on. Like, there's quite a few. It's never too early to think about Christmas presents. Just saying.
Like this? You might also be interested in:
Louis Theroux Held A Look-A-Like Competition For Himself And The Results Were Fantastic
Louis Theroux Docs To Watch Online If You Can’t Handle Not Seeing Him For Another Year
Louis Theroux Has Some Very Interesting Stuff To Say About Max Clifford
Follow Jazmin on Twitter @JazKopotsha
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.