21 things we learned from Louis Theroux’s Reddit AMA
- Posted by
- Alex Finnis
- Published

Last night, ahead of the US release of his big screen documentary My Scientology Movie, Louis Theroux decided to field questions from fans in the form of a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything). He talked about the movie, but also his wider career. Here’s what we learned:
1. His on-screen persona is kind of a character
2. He’s too scared to do a documentary on ISIS
3. He had a complicated “friendship” with Jimmy Savile
4. And there’s “probably a lot” the public don’t know about Savile that would still surprise us
5. He regrets the relationship they had and found filming the follow-up documentary extremely stressful
6. He enjoys the cult following he’s recently amassed
7. He keeps in contact with ‘too many’ of the people he’s done documentaries about
8. He’s a very non-confrontational person
9. His scariest ever moment was auditioning for a Norwegian cruiseliner
10. He’s a big fan of true crime documentaries
11. The Church of Scientology are still sending him “scary” legal letters
12. And he’s pretty certain they were reading the AMA
13. While filming My Scientology Movie, he was most surprised by how they treat former members
14. They treat journalists the same way they treat perverts
15. He’s a big fan of the @NoContextLouis Twitter account
— No Context Louis (@NoContextLouis) May 13, 2016