The Netflix docuseries Beckham, directed by Fisher Stevens, has captured audiences with its never-before-seen personal access to one of the biggest soccer stars in the world. The four-part series takes a deep dive into the previously unknown thoughts and sentiments of international celebrity David Beckham. Beckham rose to fame from his skills on the soccer field before also becoming a model and eventually the co-owner of the MLS team Inter Miami. Under Stevens’s thorough direction, Beckham opens up like never before in this must-see docuseries that is compelling even for non-soccer fans.
David Beckham’s soccer career spanned twenty years, playing for two of the most coveted Premier League franchises in history, Manchester United and Real Madrid. Beckham also played for five years for LA Galaxy in an effort to popularize professional soccer in the United States. Over fifteen years later, the best player in the world Lionel Messi has followed in David’s footsteps, playing for Inter Miami and single-handedly gaining the interest of the Western sports world that is widely overtaken by American football, basketball, and baseball. Fisher Stevens plays an integral role in Beckham mostly behind the camera, but here is where you might already know him as either a prominent actor or director.
Fisher Stevens Is An Actor & Filmmaker Best Known For Short Circuit & Succession
Fisher Stevens is arguably most recognizable today from his recent portrayal as Hugo in the critically acclaimed HBO series Succession. In Succession, Stevens’s Hugo acts as a loyal servant to the Roy family empire with a vested interest in how the chips fall in the final season. Stevens, 59, has been a professional actor since 1981, making his first prominent appearance in the 1986 sci-fi movie Short Circuit as Ben. During his more than 40 years of acting, Stevens has also been featured in Friends season 1, episode 13 as Roger, as well as an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia in season 4.
On the other side of the camera, Stevens has garnered critical acclaim for his directorial and producing efforts. He was a producer on the 2009 documentary film The Cove, which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary, Feature. The Cove raised awareness of shocking occurrences of animal abuse and captivity regarding wild dolphins in Taiji, Japan. Stevens has also produced several other humanitarian and oceanic documentaries such as Mission Blue, Racing Extinction, and Before the Flood. He was also the Executive Producer of Tiger King.
Why Fisher Stevens Agreed To Direct David Beckham’s Netflix Documentary
According to Esquire, Stevens jumped on board for the David Beckham documentary through the recommendation of Leonardo DiCaprio, whom he had worked with on Before the Flood. DiCaprio also knew that Stevens was a big soccer fan and believed that he would be a perfect fit for Beckham. Stevens was filming Succession at the time he was considering directing Beckham and received encouragement from Succession writers/producers Jesse Armstrong and Tony Roche. Beckham and Stevens met and agreed to work together, particularly because Stevens wasn’t British or overly aware of the soccer player’s personal history. The end result is Beckham, streaming now on Netflix.
