Robbie Williams, the former Take That singer, has given a revealing insight into the making of his upcoming Netflix docuseries.
In an interview with journalist Caitlin Moran from The Times, Williams described the experience as “watching a crash you were involved in, but in slow motion.” He even jokingly referred to it as “trauma watch”.
The documentary delves into Williams’ music career, from his time in Take That to his struggles with drug addiction and his journey to recovery. It features Williams watching old footage, capturing his candid reactions after years of not seeing these moments.
Williams talked about his experience in creating the documentary ‘When I met the Netflix people, the question I had to ask them was, ‘Can you polish a turd?’
“I know everyone’s got a story, or a turd, but I want my particular story, or turd, to mean something.
“Like, I know everyone’s really interested in the trauma aspect and the addiction aspect, but I’ve always thought, ‘Well, there’s more to me than that’
He also expressed a desire to go beyond the typical narrative of trauma and addiction. Reflecting on the intense process of filming, Williams emphasised the importance of addressing mental illness.
“It was intense. But you have to show it to all the people who just go, ‘Oh, it’s tomorrow’s chip paper’, or, ‘Nobody believes what they read in the papers’, or, ‘Brush it off’. Well, I was incredibly mentally ill.
“You can’t brush that off. That’s basically like people saying, ‘Don’t be sad’, to someone who’s mentally ill. And we know not to do that now, don’t we?”
Netflix’s highly anticipated limited series documentary, ‘Robbie Williams,’ is set to premiere on November 8.
