David Beckham Was ‘So Open’ to Telling His Full Life Story for Netflix Doc, Says Director

The former soccer superstar also shares his domestic prowess in an exclusive clip from the four-part documentary

David and Victoria Beckham. PHOTO: COURTESY OF NETFLIX

David Beckham was known for his precision on the pitch.

“I was cooking in here last night,” Beckham, 48, says to the documentary’s director Fisher Stevens, after making a cup of coffee for him and then leaning next to his gourmet gas stove.

He adds, “It’s pretty clean, because I clean it so well.”

Yet the icon’s domestic prowess goes virtually unnoticed, he jokes to Stevens, while his wife, Victoria Beckham, listens seemingly amused at a table in the next room.

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“And I’m not sure it’s actually appreciated so much by my wife, in all honesty,” Beckham reveals, and then breaks down his nightly ritual.

“The fact that when everyone’s in bed, I then go around, clean the candles, turn the lights to the right setting, make sure everywhere’s tidy, because I hate coming down in the morning and there’s cups and plates and bowls … it’s tiring.”

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He adds, “It’s tiring going around to every single candle, cleaning it, clipping the wick … I clip the candle wicks, I clean the glass, it’s my pet hate, the smoke around the inside of the candle. I know, it’s weird.”

Beckham’s idiosyncrasies serve as part of the backdrop of the legendary athlete’s story, told in four parts and through varying perspectives, and includes interviews with his parents, former teammates and his Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson.

It was all fascinating material for Stevens, who tells PEOPLE he was always a soccer fan, but that he had no idea how good a player Beckham was — until he met with the legend to talk about directing a documentary on his life.

“I started digging around and then I met with him and I said basically, ‘You were really good,’” the Succession alum and documentary filmmaker, 59, tells PEOPLE.

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Stevens adds, “He wasn’t what I expected at all. He was so open. He’s like, I’m ready. I want to tell my story before someone else does. And then I started doing research and I was like, ‘Jesus, this guy’s life is nuts. Nuts.’ I had no idea. And then when I met with him and Victoria, I was like, oh my God, they’re going to be fun. They’re going to be good. They’re going to be fun and they’re going to be difficult and it’s going to be great.”

In making the film, Stevens says one of his goals was to focus on the relationships in Beckham’s life.

“I knew I wanted to make a story about family and fathers and sons,” Stevens says. “Father being his real dad, father being Sir Alex Ferguson, father being all the father figures that kind of push these elite athletes to becoming who they are. And I knew that it was going to be kind of a love story about him and his wife and him and his family because they are such a unit. I didn’t realize until I was with them just how much of a unit they are.”

And while he was documenting the ups and downs of Beckham’s career, Stevens says he was surprised by how the athlete’s inherent skills — including his attention to detail — translate now in retirement.

“There’s a kind of warmth to him, he listens and he’s warm and he seems to [care] about people a lot,” Stevens says. “He has an incredible aesthetic. He’s not educated, he’s not an intellectual by any means, but there is an innate intelligence to him of how to read people and sort of how to read a room.”

Stevens adds, “It’s interesting when he played, people would say that Beckham saw the field, the pitch better than almost anybody. And part of his genius was that he’s three steps ahead. In his mind, I think he’s been able to kind of take that into his real life where he really sees and gives, and maybe that’s why he’s very good at business, good at people. He kind of sees what’s going on. He’s in the present in a lot of ways, and that’s a talent.”

Beckham premieres October 4 on Netflix.