You can say, ‘I am a poet, rock-climbing shaman, and my name is Hiawatha Moonbeam,’ and people in America will say, ‘Hey, that’s great. All power to you, man’. – Louis Theroux
Meeting forensic patients for the first time could occasionally be an unnerving experience. They often came across as mild and gentle people, but the details of the crimes were harrowing in the extreme. – Louis Theroux
If I actually invited someone to make a documentary about me, and I said, ‘Anything goes’, and then I refused to answer any questions, that would be inconsistent. – Louis Theroux
Clearly I’m able to read emotions. But I do feel… What is it? Awkwardness. I’m not a slick dude. That’s what it comes down to. The nakedness, the guilelessness… that’s quite real. – Louis Theroux
I never misrepresent my position – you’ve got to be strong enough to make the argument and marshal the case. – Louis Theroux
The thing is, I have never been that confident, and, um, I have a lot of self-doubt, and I had never – I don’t think I ever would have consciously chosen to be a television presenter. – Louis Theroux
It’s in the DNA of all the shows that I have done that are about people that are dealing with very stressful situations that are giving them a lot of angst. – Louis Theroux
One of the things I have always enjoyed about Scientology is their proactive approach to journalists who are covering them. – Louis Theroux
I have been to a few A-list parties, but not massively. It’s not my life, but it’s fun dipping into it. – Louis Theroux
When you don’t have access to a subject, and all you have is ex-members and critics, there is this gravitational pull toward telling a certain version of events. Scientology would say this, and they have a point, that it’s like doing a portrait of a marriage in which you’re only hearing from the ex-wife and not the ex-husband. – Louis Theroux
Funnily enough, the most danger I felt was when I did a story about exotic animals kept as pets in America. – Louis Theroux
I’m not trying to acquire a reputation as serious documentary maker for its own sake. – Louis Theroux
Hunting really divides people in Britain. We keep pets, and we name our animals, but we’re not too worried about industrial hunting practices. – Louis Theroux
Look after your body, because I’m 44, and things are happening that I never dreamed of – like bad joints and man boobs! – Louis Theroux
Not counting the brand of Sunni Islam practised by the so-called Islamic State, there is probably no religion in the world that comes in for more flak than Scientology. – Louis Theroux
L.A. is the opposite of Britain in a lot of respects, and that’s what draws so many British people here. – Louis Theroux
I don’t feel that as human beings we have an obligation to dislike someone based on their beliefs, and it’s OK to have a human reaction to someone even if you feel what they do is hideous and objectionable. You can still enjoy their company and find them interesting to be around. – Louis Theroux
Arguably, there’s an emotional side of life that I’m not always completely plugged into. – Louis Theroux
Prisons and jails, I tend to feel that you’re actually safer as a journalist than you might think, certainly more than it appears. – Louis Theroux
Most people feel that they are the heroes of their own lives and that they’re good people. So if they’re in a crisis, they feel an understandable urge to set out their own version of events. – Louis Theroux
I don’t like that feeling of holding back difficult questions. I feel like the more I can be transparent in the way I approach a story, the more it makes a satisfying programme. – Louis Theroux
I think he could win, absolutely. I think he could win because there’s Trump supporters out there who aren’t even revealing themselves as such. For me, that’s a scary prospect because I think he’d be a disastrous president. – Louis Theroux
The documentary genre, shows like ‘Making a Murderer’ and ‘The Jinx’ on HBO, there’s been a whole raft of long-form docs. – Louis Theroux
I think what I’m good at is getting to know people and trying to build a relationship over a few weeks and trying to get to the truth. – Louis Theroux
