Succession star reveals how Leonardo DiCaprio persuaded him to direct Beckham’s hit Netflix documentary

Fisher Stevens has revealed that Leonardo DiCaprio helped to get him the job as the director of the newly-released BECKHAM docu-series.

The actor and filmmaker, 59, has given an insight into how Hollywood star Leo, 48, played a key role in bringing the tell-all BECKHAM documentary to life.

Fisher, best known as an actor for playing the Roy family’s slimy PR guru Hugo Baker in Succession, revealed that it was Leo who put him on David Beckham’s radar.

Fisher, who worked with Leo on the 2016 climate crisis documentary Before the Flood, explained that the Titanic star recommended him for the job to David, 48.

He told The Guardian: ‘David was hanging out with Leo, and asked him who he should get He recommended me!’

Connections: Fisher Stevens has revealed that Leonardo DiCaprio helped to get him the job as the director of the newly-released BECKHAM docu-series

Fisher said that after the recommendation, David watched Before the Flood and his Justin Timberlake-led drama Palmer and liked the ’emotion’ in his directing.

While Leo convinced David, Fisher told how it was Succession creator Jesse Armstrong and writer Tony Roche who persuaded him to take the job.

He told Esquire: ‘I went to work [on Succession] and asked Jesse Armstrong and Tony Roche about Beckham. We would talk about football every day.

‘They were like, ‘You have to do it. He’s a genius. He was a great player.’ I started researching him and said, ‘OK, I’ll meet with him,’ and the rest is history.’

Surprisingly, Fisher thinks his lack of extensive knowledge about football also helped him to secure the job because he didn’t know of David’s infamous 1998 red card.

He said: ‘I was quite late to the soccer party, that was part of the reason David may have wanted me to do it. I didn’t have baggage with Beckham, I didn’t know he had that problem with the red card.’

In June 1998, David came under furore from England fans when he was sent off while playing Argentina in the World Cup for kicking Diego Simeone, and was later blamed for England’s defeat.

As well as charting David’s footballing career, the tell-all documentary sees David and Victoria, 49, lift the lid on their much-publicised relationship, including the harder parts of their marriage and ‘rumoured infidelity scandals’.

Help: The actor and filmmaker, 59, has told how Hollywood star Leo, 48, played a key role in bringing the tell-all BECKHAM documentary to life by recommending him for the job to David

Career: Fisher played the Roy family’s slimy PR guru Hugo Baker in Succession (pictured) and told how the drama’s creator Jesse Armstrong persuaded him to take on the BECKHAM job 

And Fisher admitted it was ‘unpleasant’ to ask David and Victoria – who have been married for 24 years – about their relationship ‘difficulties’ for the series, which arrived on Netflix on Wednesday at 8am.

‘It wasn’t pleasant, but we got into it,’ he told The Sunday Times. ‘For me, I approached it as, ‘How did your marriage stay together?’ and you’ll see how he responds.

‘I talked with both of them about the difficulties they went through.’

Producer John Battsek added: ‘They were both signed up to telling us whatever we wanted to know. I’m sure you’ll say, ‘Of course you would say that.’ But they were. There was no, ‘You will not ask that or do that’.

‘Fisher and I thought that might be the case, but we were clear from the start that we would only do this if we could go in any direction we wanted. And we did.’

David himself has admitted that looking over his life for the documentary was challenging as he revealed the reason he agreed to do it.

‘When I retired ten years ago, people started to ask me if I was going to do a documentary about my life and my career, and in all honesty I wasn’t ready to look back,’ he said at Tuesday’s premiere for the series.

‘I wasn’t ready to go over things, there’s been so much going on, and I wasn’t ready to process that. But heading towards the 10-year anniversary of me retiring, something felt right about doing it.

‘In all honesty, I wanted to have something for my family and my friends and my fans, who have all lived this.’ 

Looking back: Surprisingly, Fisher thinks his lack of knowledge about football also helped him to secure the job because he didn’t know of David’s famous 1998 World Cup red card 

Hard: Fisher has admitted it was ‘unpleasant’ to ask David and Victoria – who have been married for 24 years – about their marriage ‘difficulties’ for the series

He went on: ‘I found it challenging looking back at these things that I probably had never looked at before or processed. That was a tough part for me, going over things.’

The four-part docu-series saw Victoria speak for the first time about the aftermath of claims about David’s alleged affair with his personal assistant Rebecca Loos.

After David moved to Spain to play for Real Madrid, the footballer found himself hit by claims that he had an affair with Rebecca.

Victoria and their children Brooklyn and Romeo then relocated from the UK to be by David’s side, where the family found themselves under intense scrutiny, with Spanish media hounding them and fans intruding in their lives.

Speaking about the experience on the docuseries, Victoria confessed: ‘Did I resent David? If I’m being totally honest, yes I did.’

‘If I’m being honest it’s probably the most unhappy I have ever been in my entire life,’ she went on.

‘It wasn’t that I was being unheard, I chose to internalise a lot of it because I was always mindful of the focus that he needed.’ 

Meanwhile, David admitted he still doesn’t know how they got through the 2003 crisis but that they knew they had to ‘fight for their family’, and said they felt like they were ‘drowning’ when their high-profile marriage was in the headlines for months.

Victoria and David have been married for 24 years since first meeting in 1997 and now share four children Brooklyn, 24, Romeo, 21, Cruz, 18, and Harper, 12. 

Their BECKHAM documentary has been received by an incredible response from fans, who have praised the couple for giving an unprecedented insight into their romance.

Honest: The four-part docu-series saw Victoria speak for the first time about the aftermath of claims about David’s alleged affair with his personal assistant Rebecca Loos 

Shocking: David stunned the world when his alleged relationship with Rebecca was revealed in the now defunct News Of The World newspaper (Rebecca Loos pictured in 2004) 

Struggles: David admitted he still doesn’t know how he and Victoria got through the 2003 crisis but that they knew they had to ‘fight for their family’ 

Impressed: Their candid BECKHAM documentary has been received by an incredible response from fans, who were quick to binge-watch it after it debuted on Netflix on Wednesday morning 

Those who have been binge-watching the show since its release on Wednesday praised how the couple overcame their problems to create a ‘beautiful, sweet’ family.

One said: ‘I am watching the Victoria and David Beckham documentary and I all of a sudden now believe in love.’

Another penned: ‘The story of ‘The Beckhams’ is why I’m watching #Beckham. 

‘We all saw what was possibly the worst part of their story, but I love how they not only moved past it but became this beautiful, really sweet, family who just love each other.’ 

A third wrote: ‘Have you seen the Beckham doc? Kinda nice seeing the good times again, at least in episode 1.’

David and Victoria Beckham latest

•  Victoria Beckham blasts ‘selfish’ David for putting  football ahead of family by leaving them behind to tour the world.  
• The Beckham’s share a glimpse of their LA home movie collection as Victoria admits she ‘let go of a lot of pain’ after US move.
• Sweet moment David Beckham dances with Victoria to ‘Islands in the Stream’ after admitting their Netflix series has been like ‘therapy’. 
• Critics praise ‘riveting’ and ‘candid’ Beckham series as best sports doc in years.
• David takes fans inside his immaculate wardrobe and opens up about his OCD struggles: the football star reveals he plans his outfits a WEEK in advance. 
• Victoria Beckham reveals what she really thought about relocating to Spain after David’s shock Madrid signing, admitting the move was ‘less than ideal’. 
• Victoria admits she ‘resented’ husband David after affair allegations turned their children’s lives into a circus’.
• Rebecca Loo’s very different life 20 years on from David Beckham scandal involves living away from the limelight, as a mother of 2 yoga teacher. 
• The Beckham’s finally break their silence on Rebecca Loos after 20 years: Victoria tearfully reveals how claims of David’s alleged affair with his PA was the ‘hardest time of her life’.
• David and Victoria Beckham open up about alleged affair in bombshell new Netflix series.
• Family, A-list friends and former teammates join Victoria and David at premiere after show. 
• The Beckham’s prove their love is still strong in premiere of Netflix documentary: Their new tell-all programme titled BECKHAM appears on screens Wednesday 4th October 8am. 

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