Louis Sebastian Theroux (; born 20 May 1970) is a British and American documentarian, journalist, broadcaster, and author. He has received three

British Academy Television Awards The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards, are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in ...

and a Royal Television Society Television Award. After graduating from

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, Theroux moved to the United States and worked as a journalist for ''

Metro Silicon Valley ''Metro'', also known as ''Metro Silicon Valley'', is a free weekly newspaper published by the San Jose, California-based Weeklys media group for four decades, a period during which its readership area became known as Silicon Valley. Metro was ...

'' and ''

Spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ''e ...

''. He moved into television as the presenter of offbeat segments on

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

's ''

TV Nation ''TV Nation'' is a satirical news magazine television series written, co-produced, directed and hosted by Michael Moore that was co-funded and originally broadcast by NBC in the United States and BBC2 in the United Kingdom. The show blended humor ...

'' series. Theroux is known for his numerous documentaries with the BBC, beginning with ''

Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends ''Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends'' is a television documentary series, in which Louis Theroux gives viewers the chance to get brief glimpses into the worlds of individuals and groups that they would not normally come into contact with or experien ...

'' (1998–2000), followed by '' When Louis Met...'' (2000–2002) and 50 BBC Two specials (2003–present). His work includes studies of unusual and taboo subcultures, crime and the justice system, and celebrities. The majority of his documentaries are set in the United States, but he has also studied cultures in South Africa, Israel, Nigeria, and the UK. ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' described Theroux's work as "a piercingly humane, slyly funny guide through the funkier passages of American culture".

Early life

Louis Sebastian Theroux was born in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

on 20 May 1970; he is the son of English mother Anne (née Castle) and American father

Paul Theroux Paul Edward Theroux ( ; born April 10, 1941) is an American novelist and travel writer who has written numerous books, including the travelogue '' The Great Railway Bazaar'' (1975). Some of his works of fiction have been adapted as feature films ...

, a noted travel writer and novelist. His paternal grandmother, Anne Dittami, was an Italian-American grammar school teacher, while his paternal grandfather, Albert Eugène Theroux, was a French-Canadian salesman for the American Leather Oak company. Theroux holds dual British and American citizenship. He is the nephew of novelist

Alexander Theroux Alexander Louis Theroux (born 1939) is an American novelist and poet. He is known for his novel '' Darconville's Cat'' (1981), which was selected by Anthony Burgess for his book-length essay '' Ninety-Nine Novels: The Best in English Since 1939 ...

and writer

Peter Theroux Peter Christopher Sebastian Theroux (born 1956) is an American translator and writer. The younger brother of writers Alexander Theroux and Paul Theroux, during college Peter studied for a year at the University of Cairo. He became interested in A ...

. His older brother, Marcel, is a writer and television presenter. His cousin,

Justin Justin may refer to: People and fictional characters * Justin (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Justin (historian), Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire * Justin I (c. 450–527) ...

, is an actor and screenwriter. Theroux moved with his family to England when he was one year old; he was raised in the

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdivi ...

district of south London. He went from primary school to Tower House School in

East Sheen East Sheen, also known as Sheen, is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its long High Street, high street has shops, offices, restaurants, cafés, pubs and suburban supermarkets and is also the economic ...

in 1979 or 1980 and then to

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

, a public school within the precincts of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

. There, he befriended comedians Adam Buxton and

Joe Cornish Joseph Murray Cornish (born 20 December 1968) is an English comedian and filmmaker. With Adam Buxton, he forms the comedy duo Adam and Joe. In 2011, Cornish released his directorial debut ''Attack the Block''. He also co-wrote ''The Adventures ...

, and future

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

leader and Deputy Prime Minister

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British retired politician and media executive who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015 and as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015. H ...

, with whom he travelled to America. He also performed in a number of school theatre productions including ''

Bugsy Malone ''Bugsy Malone'' is a 1976 gangster musical comedy film written and directed by Alan Parker (in his feature film directorial debut). A co-production of United States and United Kingdom, it features an ensemble cast, comprising only child actor ...

'' as Looney Bergonzi, ''Ritual for Dolls'' as the Army Officer, and ''The Splendour Falls'' as the Minstrel. He read Modern History at

(1988–1991), graduating with

first-class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

Career

Early career

Theroux's first employment as a journalist was in the United States with ''

'', an alternative free weekly newspaper in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

. In 1992, he was hired as a writer for the satirical monthly magazine ''

.'' He also worked as a correspondent on

's ''

'' series, for which he provided segments on offbeat cultural subjects, including selling Avon to women in the

Amazon Rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

, the

Jerusalem syndrome Jerusalem syndrome is a group of mental phenomena involving the presence of religiously themed ideas or experiences that are triggered by a visit to the city of Jerusalem. It is not endemic to one single religion or denomination but has affected J ...

, and attempts by the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

to rebrand itself as a civil rights group for white people. When ''TV Nation'' ended, Theroux signed a development deal with the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, where he developed ''

''. He has written for a number of publications, including ''

Hip Hop Connection ''Hip Hop Connection'' (''HHC'') was the longest running monthly periodical devoted entirely to hip hop culture. It was described by rapper Chuck D as "the most important magazine in the world". History Under the editorship of Chris Hunt, the m ...

'' and '' The Idler''.

Documentaries

''Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends''

In '' Weird Weekends'' (1998–2000), Theroux followed marginal (mostly American) subcultures such as

survivalists Survivalism is a social movement of individuals or groups (called survivalists, doomsday preppers or preppers) who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters, and other disasters causing disruption to social order (that is, ...

black nationalists Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

white supremacists White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine o ...

, and

porn star A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts on video that is usually characterized as a pornographic film. Such videos tend to be made in a number of distinc ...

s, often by living among or close to the people who were involved in them. His documentary method subtly exposes the contradictions or farcical elements of his subjects' seriously held beliefs. He described the aim of Weird Weekends as:

''When Louis Met...''

In the series '' When Louis Met...'' (2000–02), Theroux accompanied a different British celebrity in each programme in their daily lives, interviewing them as they go. His episode about British entertainer

Jimmy Savile Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English media personality and DJ. He was known for his eccentric image, charitable work, and hosting the BBC shows ''Top of the Pops'' and ''Jim'll Fix It''. A ...

, entitled ''When Louis Met Jimmy'', was voted one of the top documentaries of all time in a 2005 survey by Britain's

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. Some years after the episode was filmed, the

NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity founded as the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (LSPCC) by Thomas Agnew on 19 April 1883. The NSPCC lobbies t ...

described Savile as one of the most prolific sex offenders in Great Britain. In an interview in 2015, Theroux expressed his intention to produce a follow-up documentary about Savile for the BBC to explore how the late entertainer had continued his abuse for so long, to meet people he knew closely, and examine his own reflections on his inability to dig more deeply into the first case. This follow-up documentary, titled ''Savile'', aired on BBC Two on Sunday, 2 October 2016, and lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes. In ''When Louis Met the Hamiltons'', the former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine were arrested during the course of filming, due to false allegations of indecent assault. In ''When Louis Met Max Clifford'',

Max Clifford Maxwell Frank Clifford (6 April 1943 – 10 December 2017) was an English publicist and convicted sex offender who was particularly associated with promoting " kiss and tell" stories in tabloid newspapers. In December 2012, as part of Operat ...

tried to set up Theroux, but he was caught lying as the crew recorded his live microphone during the conversations. After this series concluded, a retrospective called ''Life with Louis'' was released. Theroux made a documentary called '' Louis, Martin & Michael'' about his quest to get an interview with

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

to which he lost out to

Martin Bashir Martin Henry Bashir (born 19 January 1963) is a British former journalist. He was a presenter on British and American television and for the BBC's '' Panorama'' programme, for which he gained an interview with Diana, Princess of Wales under fal ...

who went on to make the documentary Living With Michael Jackson. Selected episodes of ''When Louis Met...'' were included as bonus content on a Best-Of collection of ''Weird Weekends''.

BBC Two specials

In these special programmes, beginning in 2003, Theroux returned to American themes, working at feature-length and in a more natural way. In March 2006, he signed a new deal with the BBC to make 10 films over the course of three years. Subjects for the specials include criminal gangs in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

, Neo-Nazis in America, ultra-Zionists in Israel. He also explores

child psychiatry Child and adolescent psychiatry (or pediatric psychiatry) is a branch of psychiatry that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders in children, adolescents, and their families. It investigates the biopsychosocial fact ...

, and the prison systems in California and Florida. A 2007 special, '' The Most Hated Family in America'', received strong critical praise from the international media.

''The Settlers (2025)''

Theroux spends time with the growing community of Israeli religious-nationalist settlers. Their settlements are illegal under international law, and they have been protected by the army, the police and the Israeli government. Since the start of the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

there has been an acceleration in the establishment of settlements. The documentary explores the lives of both prominent settlers and Palestinian activists against a rise in violence against local Palestinian communities and the October 2023 attack by Hamas.

''My Scientology Movie''

In October 2016, Theroux premiered a

feature-length A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation ...

documentary, ''My Scientology Movie''. Produced by

Simon Chinn Simon Chinn is a British film producer, founder of Red Box Films and co-founder of Lightbox. He produced a number of feature documentaries, including '' Man on Wire'' and ''Searching for Sugar Man'', both winners of the Academy Award for Best Do ...

—a school friend of Theroux's—and directed by John Dower, the film covers Theroux attempting to gain access to the secretive

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religiou ...

. It premiered at the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the British Film Institute, BFI estim ...

in 2015 and was released in cinemas in the UK on 7 October 2016.

''Forbidden America''

''Forbidden America'' is a three-part series focusing on social media use in the United States among several groups, including the

alt-right The alt-right (abbreviated from alternative right) is a Far-right politics, far-right, White nationalism, white nationalist movement. A largely Internet activism, online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late ...

, rappers and pornographic film actors. On the ''Extreme and Online'' Louis meets the latest incarnation of the American far right: a political movement born out of the internet and increasingly making its presence felt on the political stage. Theroux interviews

Nick Fuentes Nicholas Joseph Fuentes (born August 18, 1998) is an American Far-right politics, far-rightMultiple sources: * * * * * Pundit, political pundit, activist, and Online streamer, live streamer who promotes White supremacy, white supremacist, Hom ...

and Baked Alaska.

Interviews

In 2022, the BBC announced a series of interviews conducted by Theroux under the title ''Louis Theroux Interviews'', in which he meets and talks to celebrities from stage, screen and music about their successful careers and their personal lives. The first series started airing weekly on BBC Two on 25 October 2022 and features interviews from rapper

Stormzy Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr. (born 26 July 1993), known professionally as Stormzy, is an English-Ghanaian rapper, singer, and songwriter. In 2014, he gained attention on the UK underground music scene through his ''Wicked Skengman'' ...

, actress Dame Judi Dench, musician

YUNGBLUD Dominic Richard Harrison (born 5 August 1997), known professionally as Yungblud, is an English singer, songwriter and actor. In 2018, he released his debut EP ''Yungblud'', followed by his first full-length album ''21st Century Liability''. In ...

, adventurer

Bear Grylls Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls (; born 7 June 1974) is a British adventurer, writer, television presenter and former Special Air Service, SAS trooper who is also a survival expert. He first drew attention after embarking on a number of notable ...

, comedian Katherine Ryan and singer

Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (; born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer-songwriter, television personality, and actress. Born in Pristina, modern-day Kosovo, she rose to prominence when she featured on DJ Fresh's 2012 single, "Hot Rig ...

. The second series of ''Louis Theroux Interviews'' started airing on 7 November 2023 and includes interviews from boxer

Anthony Joshua Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua (born 15 October 1989) is a British professional boxer. He held the unified champion, unified world heavyweight championship twice between 2016 and 2021. At regional level, he held the British Boxing Board of C ...

, musician

Pete Doherty Peter Doherty (born 12 March 1979) is an English musician. He is best known for being co-frontman of the Libertines, which he formed with Carl Barât in 1997. His other musical projects are indie rock, indie bands Babyshambles and Peter Dohert ...

, actress

Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Awards, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primetime Emm ...

, singer

Raye Rachel Agatha Keen (born 24 October 1997), known professionally as Raye ( ), is a British singer-songwriter. She first rose to prominence after signing with Polydor Records and subsequently releasing Dance music, dance singles and extended pla ...

, activist

Chelsea Manning Chelsea Elizabeth Manning (born Bradley Edward Manning, December 17, 1987) is an American activist and whistleblower. She is a former United States Army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage ...

and actor Ashley Walters.

Books

Theroux published his first book, '' The Call of the Weird: Travels in American Subcultures'', in Britain in 2005. In it, he recounts his return to the United States to learn about the lives of some of the people he had featured in his television programmes. Theroux released a memoir, ''Gotta Get Theroux This'', in September 2019. He released his third book, ''Theroux the Keyhole'', a diary recorded during the UK

COVID-19 lockdowns During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of Non-pharmaceutical intervention (epidemiology), non-pharmaceutical interventions, particularly lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar socie ...

, in November 2021.

Podcasts

In April 2020, during a COVID-19 lockdown, Theroux started the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

podcast '' Grounded with Louis Theroux'' from his home, in which he interviews well-known people he finds particularly fascinating and to whom he would not necessarily have had a chance to speak before the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Beginning on 6 June 2023, he started hosting ''The Louis Theroux Podcast'' as part of an exclusive deal with

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

Other appearances

Theroux makes a few appearances on '' The Adam and Joe Show'' DVD and has been a guest many times on Adam & Joe's radio shows, as well as on '' The Adam Buxton Podcast''. As part of the ''Weird Weekends'' episode "Porn", Theroux agreed to film a cameo in the 1997

gay pornography Gay pornography is the representation of Sexual practices between men, sexual activity between males with the primary goal to sexual arousal, sexually arouse its audience. Softcore pornography, Softcore gay pornography also exists; which at o ...

film ''Take a Peak''. He did not perform sexual acts in the film, but made a brief appearance as a park ranger in search of a criminal. In the ''Weird Weekends'' episode "Infomercials", he featured as a live salesman for an at-home paper shredder for the

Home Shopping Network HSN, Inc. an initialism of its former name Home Shopping Network, is an American free-to-air television network owned by the QVC Group (formerly Qurate Retail Group), which also owns Catalog merchant, catalog company Cornerstone Brands. It is ...

. In December 2015, Theroux captained the team representing

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

's ''

Christmas University Challenge ''Christmas University Challenge'' is a British quiz programme which has aired on BBC Two since 19 December 2011. It is a spin-off from ''University Challenge'' that airs daily over the Christmas period, and features teams of noteworthy alumn ...

''. In their first-round match, the team beat the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

's team by 220 to 130 and went on to win the tournament. In April 2022, Theroux went viral after a clip of him on the

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

show ''

Chicken Shop Date ''Chicken Shop Date'' is a British YouTube interview show created and hosted by Amelia Dimoldenberg, and produced by her production company Dimz Inc. The show features celebrity interviews that are framed as dates in a local chicken shop. The s ...

''in which he performed a short rap he had originally written and performed in the '' Weird Weekends'' episode "''Gangsta Rap''" 22 years earlierwas autotuned by a

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

user and turned into a reusable audio track with backing music. The trend saw users lip-syncing to the sound and performing an accompanying dance. It has led to more footage of Theroux's rapping ability being unearthed, leading the BBC to publish an article listing seven times he "proved he was a massive

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

head". In May, Theroux released " Jiggle Jiggle", a full version of the rap which he created alongside

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

DJ duo Duke & Jones.

Personal life

Theroux's first marriage was to Susanna Kleeman until they divorced in 2002; he later told Sathnam Sanghera of the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', "What happened was that my girlfriend was living with me in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. She was having trouble finding work ... legally. So we got married, to make it easier for her. We never really considered ourselves married in the full sense – there were no wedding photos or anything like that. It was really a

marriage of convenience A marriage of convenience is a marriage contracted for reasons other than that of love and commitment. Instead, such a marriage is entered into for personal gain, or some other sort of strategic purpose, such as a political marriage. Cases whe ...

." Theroux married his long-time girlfriend, Nancy Strang, on 13 July 2012. They have three sons together. In a 2012 masterclass, he spoke of the challenges of combining family life with the need to work on projects. They lived in the

Harlesden Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, north-west London. Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west towar ...

area of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

until temporarily moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in early 2013, allowing him more time to focus on his ''LA Stories'' series. In 2017, they relocated to Los Angeles. Theroux and his family spent COVID-19 lockdowns at their home in North-West London. Theroux is an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. He dabbled with

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

at 17 and later said that, while he acknowledges that cannabis is an intoxicant and can trigger certain mental health issues, he supports its legalisation. He has also revealed that he has a

fear of flying Fear of flying is the fear of being on an aircraft, such as an airplane or helicopter, while it is in flight. It is also referred to as flying anxiety, flying phobia, flight phobia, aviophobia, aerophobia, or pteromerhanophobia (although aero ...

. In 2023, he announced that he suffers from

alopecia Hair loss, also known as alopecia or baldness, refers to a loss of hair from part of the head or body. Typically at least the head is involved. The severity of hair loss can vary from a small area to the entire body. Inflammation or scarring ...

that has caused facial hair loss. In 2018, Theroux's

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account was hacked by

cybersecurity Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and networks from thr ...

firm Insinia as part of their attempt to highlight a longstanding security flaw in Twitter's system. Theroux is a supporter of West London football club

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

Awards

British Academy Television Awards

Emmy Awards

Royal Television Society Television Awards

References

External links

*
Louis Theroux
on

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available Over-the-top media service, over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including Mobile phone, mobile phones and Tablet computer ...

*
Louis Theroux , Culture , The Guardian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Theroux, Louis 1970 births Living people 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century British journalists 20th-century British non-fiction writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century British journalists 21st-century British non-fiction writers Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford American atheists American autobiographers American documentary filmmakers American investigative journalists American male journalists American male non-fiction writers American people of English descent American people of French-Canadian descent American people of German descent American people of Italian descent American interview podcasters American television journalists American television personalities BBC newsreaders and journalists British investigative journalists British male journalists British male non-fiction writers British television journalists British television personalities British television presenters Critics of Scientology English atheists English autobiographers English documentary filmmakers English male journalists English male non-fiction writers English people of American descent English people of French-Canadian descent English people of French descent English people of German descent English people of Italian descent English podcasters English television journalists British television show creators English television personalities English television presenters People educated at Tower House School People educated at Westminster School, London People from Harlesden People from Singapore People with alopecia areata

Louis Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...