Robbie Williams reconsidered decision to film Netflix docuseries after revisiting 'traumatic' past event
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Netflix announced Robbie Williams' forthcoming untitled four-part documentary series in August 2022. A recently released trailer of the docuseries revealed that the pop icon showed up at a meeting and turned down the docuseries after he felt triggered. Joe Pearlman is directing the Netflix project, which will be executive produced by Asif Kapadia and Dominic Crossley-Holland.
The four-part docuseries going to concentrate on Williams' life and career as a member of the British band 'Take That' and a solo artist, with him clarifying that there are no rules when it comes to filming the series. Williams exercised complete editorial control over the docuseries and decided not to include his children in it. The Netflix documentary's announcement coincides with Williams' 25th year as a solo artist.
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"It’s the biggest experience of my life doing Knebworth”
According to The Sun, in one scene in the trailer, the artist arrives for a meeting and mentions that he is late since he didn't want to come because there was more of him that he didn't want to face. Williams went on to say that he is about to observe someone having a nervous breakdown and address his iconic 2003 performance in Knebworth.
Robbie goes on to say, "The blanket of people en mass. 125,000 each night, and it was seismic. This is the height of my career. This is the biggest thing that I've ever done. It's all ramping up to this. I'm experiencing a huge high. Now, the audience is incredible. Everything I'm doing is working, and there is mass adulation. Professionally, I'm riding the crest of a wave. Everything seems to keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Bigger albums. Bigger shows, bigger lifestyle, bigger houses. I am the centre of the pop culture world at the moment."
These statements are not surprising given that the artist has been open about his struggles with mental health over the years, explaining that he felt he had no purpose for the longest time and that imposter syndrome took over, with his mind constantly telling him that he ain't good.
This explains why Robbie Williams refused to film the scene in which he had to relive the same journey over and over again, especially when it triggered him. He revealed in 2022 that when he left 'Take That' in 1995, he was in the middle of a nervous breakdown, which he described as the first of many.
During an interview with Newstalk ZB's 'The Mike Housting Breakfast Show' in October 2022, Robbie mentioned that his tell-all documentary will be full of sex, drugs, and mental illness and that it is going to reveal a lot about his life. He further said that he looks forward to getting it started and figuring it all out.
How did Robbie Williams’ career affect his mental health?
The Netflix docuseries is set to show thirty years of intimate, never-before-seen archive footage of the singer, as well as how his massive career impacted his mental health. In an interview with The Sunday Times Magazine a few years ago, Williams said, "This job is really bad for my health. It’s going to kill me. Unless I view it in a different way. Depression sprints through my family. I don’t know if I’d be this mentally ill without fame. I don’t think it would be as gross or as powerful if it hadn’t have been for fame."
In January 2023, during a show in Amsterdam, Williams took to the stage and thanked his fans for being protective of him. He said in his speech, “Over the years, there has been the delving into the mental illness and the struggling with just being a human.”
The artist further said, “In 2006, it got so much that I retired from the industry. Obviously, I’m still here, so that didn’t fucking work out, but I did. And for three years, I just sat on the couch and I ate crisps, chips, and I ate donuts, and I grew a beard and I looked like a serial killer, and I looked for UFOs, which made me look even more crazy. I became agoraphobic and I didn’t leave the house. I only left the house for doctor’s meetings."
After explaining he felt worthless and felt like he had no purpose in life, but meeting his wife Ayda Field kept him safe, Robbie said, “The one thing that counteracted that, and also kept me safe, was the fact that you guys are here, and you guys like me, and you guys want me to be well. If it wasn’t for you, and it wasn’t for my wife, and it wasn’t for my kids now, I don’t think I’d be here. So, I’m eternally grateful to you for, in a very, very crazy, mad way, protecting me. Thank you very much.”
While appearing on 'The Jonathan Ross Show' in 2016, Williams revealed that it was Sir Elton John who had helped him take his first step toward sobriety. He said, “He really tried to help. In the early days when I was first getting sober, there was a week until I had to go to rehab and I had two vocals to do on my first album.” But when Robbie showed up at Elton's house covered in wine stains and "smelling like a pub", the legendary singer helped him get into rehab immediately.
When will the Netflix docuseries release?
Williams' four-part Netflix docuseries will premiere later this year. His biopic 'Better Man' is also in the works as is the biopic on Take That which has been titled 'Greatest Days'.
'Greatest Days' will be released on June 16, 2023, and will tell the story of Williams and his bandmates -- Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Jason Orange, and Howard Donald.