Who directed the Beckham documentary? Meet Fisher Stevens

Fans of the new Netflix release want to know who directed the Beckham documentary. 

Whether you're a football fan or not, chances are you've heard about Beckham, the new Netflix documentary detailing the life of football superstar David Beckham and his relationship with former Spice Girl Victoria. The four-part series has fans asking further questions about the personal lives of those who star in it, from where David Beckham lives and how many kids he has, to even wondering where Rebecca Loos is now - the woman Beckham is rumoured to have had an affair with. 

But others have been more intrigued by those behind the camera - particularly the director, whose voice can be heard at various points in the series, but whose face is never seen. Here's everything to know about Fisher Stevens, and where you might recognise him from...

Who directed the Beckham documentary?

Beckham was directed by Fisher Stevens. Fisher is an American actor, director, producer and writer, known for his portrayal as Hugo in HBO's Succession, as well as his roles in various Wes Anderson movies, including The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), The French Dispatch (2021) and Asteroid City (2023).

Speaking to Variety, Fisher revealed how he came to direct Beckham. "I got a call from Leo DiCaprio’s office," he said. "Leo and David were hanging out, and David [had] been looking for a director of his documentary - and Leo suggested me."

He went on to confess, "I didn’t really know much about [David Beckham] other than, you know, he was kind of a good-looking brand guy married to a Spice Girl." But after talking to his Succession colleagues, he was persuaded to take on the new documentary.

He went on to spend more than 30 hours interviewing David Beckham over the course of two years.

Speaking about meeting David and Victoria Beckham ahead of the documentary, Fisher said on an episode of Netflix's Skip Intro podcast, "We just clicked. David was wonderful, Victoria was hilarious, really funny. I said, 'OK, this is going to be good and it’s going to be funny,' because Victoria was so funny when I met her. I just got excited."

Later in the podcast, he also spoke about David's extreme cleanliness, which has come across in the documentary. Fisher said, "You should see the house. His stuff is nuts. He literally prepped the week, like, for the clothes. We were filming in this one scene and I moved things around. I messed them up. This is at the beginning. And then I noticed him putting everything back in a weird way, really crazy the way he would place the couch back after we shot."

Meanwhile, on interviewing Victoria, Fisher said, "She was so different than what I thought. She was great. She was funny, she was fast. And she was unlike David, who was very at first tentative, she just came out like a shot."

Despite its popularity, the documentary has also come under fire for failing to include the heavy criticism Beckham faced for accepting an ambassadorship in connection with FIFA World Cup in Qatar - a country where homosexuality is illegal. 

However, Fisher defended the decision, telling The Independent, "It just felt kind of dated. Honestly, if I had another episode, we could have gotten into that. But it just didn’t feel as relevant. When you’re talking about a guy’s 48 years, that was [just] a moment."

Who is Fisher Stevens?

Fisher Stevens is an acclaimed documentary filmmaker and actor who recently played Hugo in Succession. He was born in Chicago in 1963 and shot to fame after he starred as Ben in Short Circuit (1986), and Short Circuit 2 (1988).

He also directed Leonardo DiCarprio's 2016 climate change film, Before The Flood.

In addition, he won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for co-producing The Cove in 2010, and has a Broadway and off-Broadway career spanning nearly three decades. He previously starred in productions of Torch Song Trilogy and Brighton Beach Memoirs. 

Is Fisher Stevens married?

Fisher Stevens is married to longtime filmmaking partner and producer Alexis Bloom. The pair married in 2017 in a private ceremony and have two children together.

Previously, Fisher Stevens famously dated fellow actor Michelle Pfeiffer between 1989 and 1992. The American actress was one of Holywood's biggest stars in the 80s and 90s, and is known for her role in Scarface (1983), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Batman Returns (1992) - in which she played Catwoman - and Hairspray (2007).

Who did Fisher Stevens play in Friends?

Some die-hard Friends fans may recognise Fisher Stevens. He played Phoebe's psychiatrist boyfriend in the show's first series.

It was widely reported that he was one of the rudest guest stars to appear on the show, and he appeared to confirm the rumours himself when he appeared on an episode of People TV's Couch Surfing. He said: "At that moment in my career, I had never done a sitcom before. I had never heard of Friends because it was just the beginning of the show and I didn't watch TV at the time much." 

Explaining that he didn't realise it was normal for the script to change after learning his lines, he said, "That’s what sitcoms did. And I didn’t know that. I was kind of an a**hole, I have to admit. ‘What do you mean? So I have to relearn lines that you’ve written that are worse than what you’d originally written?’ Yeah, I was a d*ck."

For more celebrity inside info, find out what we know about where Guy Chambers is now, following the Robbie Williams documentary. We've also done some digging into where Ryan Reynolds lives, and his life at home with his wife and kids. We also have everything you need to know about fellow Welcome to Wrexham star Rob McElhenney, and whether he's married with kids.