David Beckham Admits Doc Director Was ‘Angry’ About Viral ‘Be Honest’ Bit

Jon Blistein
·2 min read
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'Beckham' director Fisher Stevens and David Beckham. - Credit: Charley Gallay/Getty Images
'Beckham' director Fisher Stevens and David Beckham. - Credit: Charley Gallay/Getty Images

David Beckham’s viral “be honest” moment with wife, Victoria Beckham, is the kind of impromptu bit of character revelation documentarians dream of catching — especially when working with superstar celebrities who may be inclined toward guarded self-mythologizing. But Beckham director Fisher Stevens was initially furious with the former soccer star when he lightly roasted his wife for engaging in exactly that kind of self-mythologizing when she claimed her family was working class.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Beckham shared the behind-the-scenes anecdote during an Emmys “For Your Consideration” event for the docuseries. David said the interview took place on Victoria’s first day of filming. He was in the kitchen making coffee, and before leaving the house, he decided to do a little eavesdropping.

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“I put the set of headphones on and all of a sudden I heard my wife go, ‘Well, we’re down to earth.’ And I was like, ‘No, no, no.’ As soon as I heard her say, ‘We’re working class,’ I stuck my head in, and I was like, ‘Be honest.’”

That did not sit well with Stevens, David quipped, saying the director was “very angry with me over that.”

Stevens, for his part, noted that they’d set up the interview specifically so that David would be out of the house and Victoria would be “free to say what she wants.” So when David made his little cameo, Stevens admitted he was “quite upset,” adding, “I was like, ‘Get him out of here!’”

But the director soon realized the whole moment was “brilliant,” saying, “Thank god the cameraman caught David, and I did say to [editor] Michael [Harte], ‘We have gold, I think.’”

The Beckhams have since milked the “be honest” moment for close to all its worth. Beyond providing their documentary with the perfect bit of viral marketing, David and Victoria recreated the moment for a Super Bowl commercials, and Victoria even turned her eventual admission — “My dad had a Rolls-Royce” — into a line of t-shirts selling for $150 a pop.

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