Louis Theroux Quotes

There's obviously a lot of controversy around the issue of hunting as there is around gambling, and I like these stories where there is a moral dimension, stories that force you to think about your prejudices about a subject and explore the extent to which they are justified.

- Louis Theroux

Gambling, Extent, Subject, Justified

There have been times when I've felt inappropriately emotional. I remember making 'The Most Hated Family in America' about the Westboro Baptist Church, and being on the way to a funeral of a U.S. soldier with the Phelps family; they were going to picket the funeral.

- Louis Theroux

Church, I Remember, Been, Picket

I think everybody carries a slight sense of being different, and I know that it comes very naturally to me.

- Louis Theroux

Think, Everybody, Very, Being Different

I don't go around saturated in guilt or anything like that. I do worry about things quite a lot, but I don't feel as though I am a bad person.

- Louis Theroux

Worry, Guilt, Though, Saturated

There's always a negotiation that goes on to persuade people we are coming to the subject with an open mind but without surrendering too many pawns. We don't want to misrepresent the fact that we will draw our own conclusions.

- Louis Theroux

Fact, Own, Subject, Conclusions

Scientology is not that different from other religions. And yet, at the same time, we don't have Anglicans doing the things that are alleged to be done in Scientology, at least in the Sea Org.

- Louis Theroux

Doing, Other, Same Time, Alleged

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

Could, Crimes, Unnerving, Harrowing

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

Doing, Access, Telling, Ex-Wife

I am always drawn to things that feel different to what I would experience at home: things that offer a combination of unfamiliarity and a sort of bleak glamour. I think the outback has that.

- Louis Theroux

Think, Always, I Think, Glamour

'Cunnamulla' is a beautifully bleak portrait of a lonely town in which people are leading lives of sort of quiet desperation.

- Louis Theroux

Town, Which, Lives, Bleak

When you're in your 40s, you become more conscious of life being of limited duration and that you need to create memories and go on little adventures from time to time.

- Louis Theroux

More, Need, Limited, Duration

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

More, Counting, Islamic, Sunni

I'm not pugnacious or argumentative. I'd probably feel fear going into a pub in the Outback.

- Louis Theroux

Fear, Feel, Going, Pub

Sometimes people think I'm sort of a Machiavelli who is thinking, 'How can I disarm people? I know: I'll create a persona; I'll get some spectacles, and when I meet you, I'll say, 'How are you doing?' And I will be very unassuming and polite and never get angry.'

- Louis Theroux

Some, Very, Polite, Disarm

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

Emotions, Read, Awkwardness, Dude

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

My Life, Been, Dipping, Massively

I am genuinely slightly vague and chaotic in my habits. For good or ill, you know.

- Louis Theroux

Habits, Vague, Slightly, Chaotic

People say I'm deceptively unassuming, but that's the way I go through life. I'm not flash. You can make it sound calculated, but it's pretty much just me.

- Louis Theroux

Sound, Through, Pretty, Flash

In the past, I've tried to show the human side of people involved in stigmatised or misunderstood lifestyles. I've tried to resist easy judgments and not pander to prejudices.

- Louis Theroux

In The Past, Prejudices, Misunderstood

As much as the glasses, it's the Englishness and the gangliness. The apparent lack of muscularity... they indicate I'm not a macho man.

- Louis Theroux

Glasses, Macho, Indicate, Apparent

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

Questions, More, Like, Satisfying

I'm following my interests, and there's something about investigating the world and creating a watchable, entertaining programme out of it that is deeply satisfying.

- Louis Theroux

Entertaining, About, Satisfying

Big game hunters and the hunting industry in South Africa know a lot of people regard what they do as terrible, and the media have tended not to do them any favours. So it was an uphill struggle to win trust from the people and to get into the world.

- Louis Theroux

Trust, Big, Hunters, Uphill

I think Donald Trump's had a pattern of leaping on the bandwagon of anything that he feels will further his candidacy, and if that means sowing more fear and paranoia and playing into a kind of xenophobic populist strain, then that's what he will do.

- Louis Theroux

Trump, Feels, Donald, Sowing

I would love to make a film in the outback or in Papua New Guinea, in Port Moresby. I know that it's not in Australia, but it's not too far.

- Louis Theroux

Love, Australia, New, Guinea

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

Think, I Think, Trump, Supporters

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

Think, Might, Certainly, Jails

I didn't think, 'I'd really like to work in TV; maybe I could carve out a niche where I talk to people who are somehow involved in marginal or difficult lifestyles... ' It was something I gravitated to very naturally as a subject area, almost instinctively, and somehow turned into a TV career without meaning to.

- Louis Theroux

Career, Very, TV, Marginal

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

Pets, About, Britain, Divides

As a father of two children, I am used to seeing kids in the midst of a five-alarm meltdown over the choice of DVD or the necessity of broccoli.

- Louis Theroux

Father, Over, Broccoli, Meltdown

I think there's a feeling of - a grassroots feeling of being betrayed by the elites in some way: that the system is working for itself and not for the people at the bottom.

- Louis Theroux

Think, Some, I Think, Elites

Sometimes I feel a bit socially disconnected in terms of being a little bit gullible about how people interrelate emotionally.

- Louis Theroux

About, Gullible, Socially, Disconnected

It's difficult to describe the weirdness of speaking to a man who appears to be perfectly in control of his faculties, who can deliver off-the-cuff repartee, and yet who is actually utterly disconnected from who he is.

- Louis Theroux

Deliver, Repartee, Perfectly, Disconnected

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

Will, Say, Am, Hey

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

Enjoy, Feel, Dislike, OK

It is important to note that most of the patients in Ohio's mental health facilities have never committed crimes. They are institutionalised because they have lost touch with reality and are having problems functioning unaided in the community.

- Louis Theroux

Committed, Note, Having, Facilities

For publicity purposes, everything gets simplified, and the fact that I wear glasses and am somewhat bookish makes me a geek. That's fine; there needs to be a shorthand, but there are important geek traits that I don't really share.

- Louis Theroux

Fact, Wear, Traits, Shorthand

L.A. is the opposite of Britain in a lot of respects, and that's what draws so many British people here.

- Louis Theroux

Here, Opposite, Britain, Respects

Funnily enough, the most danger I felt was when I did a story about exotic animals kept as pets in America.

- Louis Theroux

Pets, About, Felt, Exotic

Empires will come and go. The Soviet Union collapses; China can become a superpower, but 'Blue Peter' stays the same.

- Louis Theroux

Will, Go, Soviet Union, Superpower

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

Dealing, Very, About, Stressful

I think people are so immersed in the anti-Scientology mindset by consuming tabloid media and stories about space aliens. It's baffling. When I say I want to see a more positive side of the church, all I'm saying is I want to get past these headlines that talk about aliens and Tom Cruise jumping on a sofa.

- Louis Theroux

Jumping, I Think, Tabloid, Immersed

There is no religion that has a monopoly on bigotry.

- Louis Theroux

Religion, Monopoly

I never want to feel more than the viewers. I'm not trying to be an automaton. It's like when you see people laughing on camera, and you don't find it funny as a viewer - it's an offputting experience.

- Louis Theroux

More, Like, Viewer, Laughing

I never misrepresent my position - you've got to be strong enough to make the argument and marshal the case.

- Louis Theroux

Strong, Enough, Argument, Case

I really do try not to emote. I don't like seeing it on documentaries - it seems a bit unprofessional. I also need to be human being and be a kind of sympathetic presence for the contributors I'm with, so there' a line you have to walk.

- Louis Theroux

Line, Sympathetic, Bit, Presence

I don't like watching things where I think the people onscreen are ahead of me or assuming I know something that I don't know.

- Louis Theroux

Think, Like, I Think, Assuming

In west London where I live, white people are a minority. In the area I am in, which is the borough of Brent, whites are less than 50%.

- Louis Theroux

London, Area, Which, Minority

In my normal way of doing things, there's a little bit of 'going native' that takes place, where you're in a world long enough, you can't really help but start to see things in a nuanced, more humanistic way. Just because you're with people and you start to, in general, slightly like the people you're with.

- Louis Theroux

Doing, Slightly, Bit, Humanistic

We have a double agenda of trying to deliver something exciting that people will talk about and will brighten their day and will amaze people and make us proud to have created an object of beauty. And on the other hand being true to the story.

- Louis Theroux

Beauty, Other, About, Agenda

Although my dad's a writer, we grew up in a telly-watching household. I never found him disparaging about television.

- Louis Theroux

Television, About, Dad, Disparaging

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

Think, Been, Presenter, Um

I was always attracted and repelled by the idea of being a writer.

- Louis Theroux

Always, Idea, Attracted, Repelled

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

Bad, Like, Joints, Boobs

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

Making, Like, Been, HBO

You can talk to someone relatively famous, and they say, 'What do you do? What do you do for a job?' and I say, 'I make documentaries for the BBC,' and you see their eyes just glaze over.

- Louis Theroux

Famous, Over, BBC, Documentaries

I'm not necessarily scanning for clues when I make documentaries.

- Louis Theroux

Clues, Make, Necessarily, Documentaries

One of the things I have always enjoyed about Scientology is their proactive approach to journalists who are covering them.

- Louis Theroux

Always, About, Covering, Proactive

Sometimes you shoot for 40 or 50 hours for a one-hour show, and you have to make some very hard choices.

- Louis Theroux

Some, Hours, Very, Shoot

There are fear mongers who talk about Islam as somehow it is an incubator of hate... remember Christians, like the Westboro Baptist Church, are just as capable of promoting intolerance.

- Louis Theroux

Like, Promoting, Christians, Baptist

I've always seen TV as... it didn't occupy the same rarefied space as literature, but it's art you can use day to day. I've never been hung up on where it figures in the hierarchy of learning.

- Louis Theroux

Art, Always, TV, Hung

All religions are, in some basic sense, irrational.

- Louis Theroux

Religions, Sense, Some, All Religions

True believers of Scientology seem to know with utmost certainty that they have found the answer to the deepest riddles of all time - they may or may not be right, but that kind of self-belief is very appealing.

- Louis Theroux

May, Very, True Believers, Riddles

I feel like, if there's an elephant in the room, I'd really like to start off by introducing the elephant in the room. And sometimes it's funny.

- Louis Theroux

Sometimes, Like, Introducing, Elephant

As a BBC broadcaster, I really do hope that the new incarnation of 'Top Gear' with Chris Evans does well.

- Louis Theroux

New, BBC, Broadcaster, Chris

After studying the subject for years, watching countless YouTube videos of Scientology handlers filming critics and journalists, it felt amazing to be on the receiving end myself: I felt like I'd been blooded.

- Louis Theroux

YouTube, Studying, Been, Countless

I think of myself as being quite affable, approachable, fairly easy to get to know.

- Louis Theroux

Myself, Think, I Think, Affable

The many ways of getting content for free have slashed the profits of the professionals in their respective fields.

- Louis Theroux

Getting, Ways, Profits, Respective

I've always slightly harboured a dream of making a film, a documentary feature. Somehow, I just got into a way of working a routine of making TV docs.

- Louis Theroux

Always, Making, Slightly, Documentary

I'm not trying to acquire a reputation as serious documentary maker for its own sake.

- Louis Theroux

Reputation, Trying, Own, Documentary

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

Goes, Invited, Refused, Documentary

Do I care about clothes and stuff? Not much. It's a bit sick, isn't it, people spending all that money on clothes? I'm too stingy. I wouldn't pay £100 for a shirt.

- Louis Theroux

Pay, About, Stingy, I Care

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

Crisis, Set, Lives, Version

I never thought I would really like to be on television, and the story of me getting into it was quite lucky, really, just a series of chance encounters. So I am not exactly putting myself across as a celebrity, although people might perceive me that way.

- Louis Theroux

Thought, Celebrity, Lucky, Encounters

I've discovered I am quite a puritanical person.

- Louis Theroux

I Am, Person, Discovered, Puritanical

Arguably, there's an emotional side of life that I'm not always completely plugged into.

- Louis Theroux

Emotional, Always, Side, Arguably

A lot of money could be saved if we ate urban wildlife.

- Louis Theroux

Money, Urban, Lot, Ate

Celebrity is quite a fraught word. It is not something I aspire to, but I can certainly see why it could be.

- Louis Theroux

Celebrity, Certainly, Aspire

There is no shame is being ambivalent about almost everything in your life.

- Louis Theroux

Shame, Almost Everything, Ambivalent

I'm not that comfortable doing polemic or being strident.

- Louis Theroux

Doing, Comfortable, Being, Polemic

It's in the DNA of Scientology that they don't trust journalists.

- Louis Theroux

Trust, Journalists, DNA

I've always enjoyed painting, but I went to teach in schools in Zimbabwe instead.

- Louis Theroux

Painting, Always, Zimbabwe, Enjoyed

When it was time to meet a chimpanzee, I got very, very anxious because they have the strength of ten men, so I hear.

- Louis Theroux

Strength, Got, Very, Ten

The trouble is, I just don't know if I'm too human or not human enough.

- Louis Theroux

Enough, Know, Too, Trouble

I try not to be too judgmental.

- Louis Theroux

Try, Too, Judgmental

I just follow the subjects I'm interested in.

- Louis Theroux

Follow, Just, Interested, Subjects

When interviews are too cosy, I don't enjoy them.

- Louis Theroux

Enjoy, Them, Too, Interviews

I sometimes get accused of being 'faux-naive,' but for me, it's really just about getting down to the basics of something.

- Louis Theroux

Basics, Sometimes, About, Accused

Reflecting the truth sounds easy, but sometimes it's not.

- Louis Theroux

Truth, Sometimes, Reflecting, Sounds

I think I have a slight fear of intimacy.

- Louis Theroux

Think, I Think, Slight, Intimacy

I both admired my father and his writing, and I saw how much he valued it.

- Louis Theroux

Father, Admired, Saw, Valued

I am genuinely a bit confused about the world, a little bit bumbling.

- Louis Theroux

I Am, World, Confused, Little Bit

I tell people I live in Harlesden in north-west London, and I can see them thinking, 'Why do you live there?'

- Louis Theroux

Why, Tell, Them, London

My guilty fear is that what I'm doing, probably anyone could do. And that I just got a lot of lucky breaks.

- Louis Theroux

Doing, Lucky, Breaks, Guilty

Some things should remain private.

- Louis Theroux

Some, Private, Remain, Some Things

I've got an interest in Zimbabwe. I spent a few months there before uni, so I'd like to get back to that.

- Louis Theroux

Like, Before, Zimbabwe, Months

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

Think, Over, I Think, Weeks

I like eating food after it's gone off.

- Louis Theroux

Food, Like, After, Eating

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