Louis Theroux

Louis Theroux was born on May 20, 1970, in Singapore. He holds dual British and American citizenship. His father is the travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux. He moved to England at one year old and was raised in South London. Theroux attended Tower House School and Westminster School, where he befriended future comedians Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish. He then pursued Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford, graduating with first-class honours in 1991. After university, Theroux began his journalism career in the United States, working for Metro Silicon Valley and later as a writer for the satirical monthly magazine Spy. He also served as a correspondent on Michael Moore’s TV Nation series, where he produced segments on various cultural subjects.

Theroux’s career took a significant turn when he signed a development deal with the BBC, leading to the creation of his acclaimed series, “Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends” (1998–2000). In this series, he immersed himself in marginal subcultures, often living alongside groups like survivalists or white supremacists. Following this, he developed “When Louis Met…” (2000–2002), where he shadowed British celebrities. His episode “When Louis Met Jimmy” (2000) was critically praised and later gained further attention due to subsequent revelations about Jimmy Savile. Theroux has since created numerous BBC Two specials, focusing on American themes and feature-length documentaries, covering diverse subjects such as criminal gangs, neo-Nazis, ultra-Zionists, child psychiatry, and prison systems. In 2016, his feature-length documentary “My Scientology Movie” premiered, wherein he attempted to gain access to the Church of Scientology.

In recent years, Theroux has continued to produce impactful documentaries, including “Forbidden America” (2022), a three-part series exploring social media’s role in various US groups, and “Louis Theroux Interviews…” (2022-2023), where he converses with notable figures like Stormzy and Judi Dench. His production company, Mindhouse, which he co-founded, produced a documentary for Netflix in 2024 titled “Can I Tell You a Secret?” He also launched “Grounded with Louis Theroux” (2020) during COVID-19 lockdowns, a BBC Radio 4 podcast featuring interviews with well-known individuals. In 2023, he started “The Louis Theroux Podcast” through an exclusive deal with Spotify. His upcoming projects include “Louis Theroux: The Settlers” (2025), exploring Israeli religious-nationalist settlers, and “Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere” (2026) for Netflix, which delves into online hyper-masculinity movements. Theroux has authored several books, including his memoir “Gotta Get Theroux This” (2019) and has received multiple British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award for his contributions to documentary filmmaking.