Inside Louis Theroux's famous family from Friends star's husband to TV rival

13 November 2023 , 19:45

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Presenter Marcel Theroux fronts ITV's new docuseries The Playboy Bunny Murder on tonight (Image: Future Studios)

Journalist Marcel Theroux investigates a series of brutal unsolved murders from the seventies in ITV's new true crimes series which airs tonight, titled The Playboy Bunny Murder. Viewers may recognise his surname well, as the presenter is just one famous face to come out of the Theroux family.

Marcel's younger brother, Louis Theroux, is best known for his award-winning documentaries, while their father is a successful American writer. The sibling duo, who have previously described themselves as 'chalk and cheese', are also related to a Hollywood star who married Friends actress, Jennifer Aniston. Here, we take a look at the TV dynasty and their relationships with each other.

Documentarian Louis Theroux is the most well-known member of the family in the UK (BBC)

Marcel, 55, is best known for writing novels, though has fronted many documentaries for Channel 4. He reportedly has two children and is two years older than his only sibling, Louis. While his brother's series tends to explore the weird and wonderful, Marcel prefers to address political and current affairs. He has previously covered topics from Islamic extremism to climate change and modern-day slavery for Unreported World.

The pair have said it is easy to differentiate them both professionally and personally, with Marcel joking, "We never have any problems telling ourselves apart". In 2017, he told Radio Times: "Louis and I are like chalk and cheese", going on to explain their unmistakably different interviewing styles. "For one, Louis gets to spend more time doing his documentaries and I think they're more participatory - there's more of Louis in them. I think mine are more straight-up current affairs films," he explained.

Marcel went on to add that he regards Louis as "the talent of the family as far as documentaries are concerned". Though, he did admit there's some competitiveness between the two - and he's still determined to beat his brother in every game of Monopoly. But that wouldn't stop them from collaborating on a production in the future.

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Marcel and Louis are the sons of novelist Paul Theroux, who wrote The Great Railway Bazaar

In an early interview with The Independent, Marcel touched on their rivalry, explaining: "We grew up in a very competitive, ambitious family, and there was a premium placed on succeeding, so of course Louis and I did compete. But that's by no means the whole story of our relationship, because actually we're very close." Marcel added that Louis got his big break into presenting before he did, which was "quite annoying, in an abstract way".

While Marcel was eventually taken on by C4 as a documentarian, he fell in love with writing and has written novels in between his films. He has followed in the footsteps of his father, Paul Theroux, 82, who is best known for travelogue The Great Railway Bazaar. Touching on his decision to become a writer, Marcel told the publication: "The worst thing that could happen would be to not write because my dad is a writer. Then the shadow would have really hung over me and stopped me doing something that might feel risky, but is what I really want to do."

Actor Justin Theroux, who was married to actress Jennifer Aniston, is their American cousin (Getty Images North America)

Two of Paul's brothers, Alexander Theroux and Peter Theroux, are also well-respected authors, while his third brother, Eugene Theroux, is a lawyer. Eugene's son, Justin Theroux, is an American actor and screenwriter and has starred in films such as Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and Zoolander. He is perhaps best known for being Jennifer Aniston's husband for several years. Speaking about their relationship at the time, his cousin Louis told the Mirror: "Jen is a nice person. She's a really nice person."

The couple married in 2015 and split in 2017, though reportedly remain friends. In 2021, Justin featured as a guest on Grounded with Louis Theroux and they talked about growing up together - despite living far apart in the US and the UK. The cousins even disagreed on how to pronounce their surnames. "You go by 'ther-oo' and I go by 'ther-oh'," Justin said. "Or to put it another way," Louis responded, "I use the correct pronunciation, and you use some weird, incorrect one."

• The Playboy Bunny Murder airs on ITV at 9pm tonight.

Nia Dalton