Louis Theroux is an accomplished, beloved documentary-maker. However, he’s the last person you’d expect to be transformed into an action figure – until now.
Ben Brooks, a sous-chef from from Bournemouth, Dorset, has always been a huge fan of the BBC filmmaker’s work – so much so, he created a massive range of action figures based on his amazing Weird Weekends series.
A year after starting the project, with months of intricate craftsmanship, the 28-year-old has 17 different figurines, each representing a different eye-opening episode – and Theroux has even bought one.
Theroux has a bit of a ‘cult-like’ following – for example, an Instagram account dedicated to ‘no context’ screenshots from his documentaries has a whopping 125,000 followers.
Explaining the process behind the figures, Ben said:
Louis Theroux is the last person you would expect to have an action figure. But being a fan, especially of his Weird Weekends series, he seemed like a great subject. I like to make public figures who have niche audiences.
Each toy is from every episode of his Weird Weekends series, so series one to three – that was 17 characters in all. I had to keep checking all the episodes and watching them to get the clothes right, so I know a lot by heart now.
Each figure takes about a week to get the paint colours right and make the glasses, then making the box art takes a while to design, make and put together. I was stopping and starting and trying to get the details down as best I could.
Ben now auctions off the figures on eBay (one even managed to sell for £77). However, his proudest sale wasn’t a matter of cost – it was down to who. Theroux himself asked to buy some of the figures after seeing them on Twitter, and even sent a signed copy of his book Gotta Get Theroux This as a thank you.
The models are incredibly detailed, inspired by key episodes of the series – for example, one features his iconic demolition derby outfit, another replicates his look from his ill-fated musical audition.
Unsurprisingly, fans have been inundating Ben with requests. ‘I knew with his cult-like online following the figures would be popular, but Louis himself noticing them was gratifying. The reception was great… I got many messages from people asking to buy them which is really nice. I was taken aback. I really didn’t expect him to want them,’ he said.
Ben added:
My favourite episode of Weird Weekends is probably the wrestling one because I was a big fan of wrestling when I was growing up and it was funny seeing Louis being put through his paces at the training centre. There are so many funny characters and moments throughout all the episodes.
It makes me proud and it’s nice people want them so badly. It makes me very proud that the figures I worked hard on are now in possession of the man himself.
As a man who owns not one, not two, but three pieces of Louis Theroux-inspired clothing, you can count on me hunting for one of these figures.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.