HE is a football legend, family man and now a documentary maker, but David Beckham has also revealed he is occasionally a gangster and a cowboy.
The former Manchester United and England skipper has revealed he gets so obsessed by certain TV shows, he will often transform himself into their central characters.
David, 49, says it inevitably draws mockery from his wife Victoria, 50, but insists it comes from a lifelong obsession with telly.
Speaking at the Royal Television Society Convention yesterday, he said: “I grew up in the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties, so I’m used to watching Only Fools And Horses, Fawlty Towers, Minder and things like that.
“Now I love Peaky Blinders, and Victoria will always laugh at me because, whenever there’s a TV show that I’m watching, I kind of morph into a character.
“So with Peaky Blinders, I went for the whole ‘not any particular character’. I just wore everything Peaky Blinders. Then we watched Yellowstone and I was a cowboy . . . which she kind of liked, I think.”
David’s love of TV has contributed to his latest role as a documentary maker with production company Studio 99, which this month scooped an Emmy for his autobiographical Netflix film, Beckham.
It saw him throw open the doors of his home in a way that was unprecedented and, he admitted at the RTS summit, difficult at times.
But he also said he understood fans’ interest in the couple, as well as their children — Brooklyn, 25, Romeo, 22, Cruz, 19, and daughter Harper, who has just turned 13.
Talking about being a Beckham in the age of social media, David said: “I’ve got three good-looking boys that a lot of people are interested in, and a beautiful little girl that no one is interested in — just yet.
“I am trying to keep it that way. Actually, they probably are interested in her already . . . but we won’t talk about that.”
David told how his love of documentaries is part of the reason why he makes so much social media content, often featuring his current rural life in the Cotswolds.
He said: “Victoria was quite angry with me at the weekend about the ‘vegetable post’. I have a whole gardening thing going on at the moment and I’d been away for the summer, and then came back and was amazed by the explosion of kale and the artichokes and all that.
“So I decided to go out early on Sunday morning and do a film with me in it, and Victoria posted about an hour later saying, ‘Where has my husband gone? Who IS this man? He used to ride bikes?’.
“Actually, she probably wasn’t angry, but she was like ‘Stop with the posts!’.”
Even Victoria gets immersed in the rural life-style, as David’s latest batch of honey, which he brought on stage at the RTS Convention, shows.
I grew up in the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties, so I’m used to watching Only Fools and Horses, Fawlty Towers, Minder and things like that
Famously referred to as David’s “Sticky Stuff”, it has now been jokingly rebranded “Sticky Vicky Honey” for their 25th wedding anniversary.
But despite showing off more of their life on social media, David admits that baring his soul on his Beckham documentary for Netflix last year was awkward.
He said: “It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact I was going to make it. But there were a few reasons why we wanted to.
“When I retired [from football], I wasn’t ready to talk about my career but, after a while, and through the pandemic, that’s when docs really exploded.
“I thought, ‘It’s coming up to the ten-year anniversary of me retiring. I think this is the right time’.”
The four-parter dropped last October and became one of the streamer’s biggest hits of the year.
But David said: “I can’t lie, it worried me and made me nervous. It made Victoria nervous because, as much as people think they know everything about us, they don’t really.
“We don’t really let those doors open to the house, but I knew it was the right time.
“It was very difficult but I loved the results. There were moments when I was talking about things I’d never talked about before.
“I was talking about times in my career when there was no social media. Everything that was said about me, I knew, but the [Man United] boss, Alex Ferguson, would turn round to me and say, ‘Don’t read the papers today. Go out and play’.
Now I love Peaky Blinders and Victoria will always laugh at me, because whenever there’s a TV show that I’m watching I kind of morph into a character
“With this documentary, I said, ‘I don’t want to see anything until it comes out’. I didn’t go into the edit.
“I didn’t see any cuts. I saw the odd clip. I just let the director, Fisher Stevens, take control.
“When I met him, I thought, ‘This is the man who, I think, will make me feel uncomfortable’, and I think I had to feel uncomfortable to make the documentary we made.
“I needed a director who’d come at it from a different angle. Everyone knows my career and my life, so I needed someone like him to bring something different out in me.
“It was quite emotional. I knew that if I was going to make it, I would only make it once, and I was going to do it in the way that I should.”
David’s next big challenge is two-fold — creating another brilliant documentary through Studio 99 while keeping Mrs Beckham happy.
The production company is making a new show on Victoria, looking at her self-titled fashion and beauty empire, which has gone from a challenging debut to a huge hit.
David said: “I’m really excited about this one because she is an amazing woman. She’s a strong, driven, passionate person who has gone from being a Spice Girl . . . to being respected in this industry.
“That is very tough. She’s worked hard for the last 17 or 18 years on her business and, all of a sudden, she’s having the success that she really deserves.
“No one really sees what she does, or the amount of work she puts in . . . from where people sit in the shows to what they wear.
“I want people to see that. It was hard to convince her but I think she’d been such a big part of the process with Netflix, and she was like, ‘I love these people and the way they work’.
“It’s an exciting time because I think she’s going to do something that’s very special, and people are going to see her personality and her work ethic.”
Asked if he would be giving Victoria notes during the making of the new documentary, David said: “Me, give my wife notes? Do you KNOW my wife?
“Actually, I’ll be quite excited to give her notes.”
BECKS’ SECRET STYLE INSPO
AFTER David admitted he often dresses like the characters he sees on screen, we look at other shows that might have inspired his many wardrobe choices over the years . . .
THEY’RE now friends and neighbours in the Cotswolds, which is handy since David seems to be adopting the full farmer look to channel Clarkson’s Farm star Jeremy.
AS a true son of the Seventies, it was inevitable Becks would go for the chunky white cardi look sported by Paul Michael Glaser – aka Detective Dave Starsky– in TV’s Starsky and Hutch.
HE’S already admitted to loving classic Eighties sitcom Only Fools And Horses, and there was no mistaking his longing to be Del Boy in this cushty sheepskin coat. Mange tout, David . . .
ROBERT de Niro is well known for his haircut in Taxi Driver, but it wasn’t the last of the Mohicans as David seemed to be inspired by the style back in 2001.
BECKS is channelling Ground Force here in a similar pose to star Charlie Dimmock. Charlie famously went braless in the BBC gardening show. Hopefully Becks isn’t wearing a bra in this snap either.
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Source: The Wall Street Journal
