For Kevin Macdonald, making a documentary about Josep “Pep” Guardiola, manager of Premier League club Manchester City, was almost a case of an outsider being handed an all-access pass — into the locker room, behind the tactical boards and, at times, to the table where some of the club’s biggest decisions are made. The Oscar-winning filmmaker behind One Day in September, as well as documentaries on Whitney Houston and Bob Marley, has never been much of a football fan. But he believes that very lack of knowledge worked in his favour when he found himself spending unprecedented time with Guardiola and his players.In his docu-series A Beautiful Obsession, Macdonald looks beyond Manchester City’s Premier League titles, trophies and Guardiola’s winning mythology to explore what happens when one of the world’s most successful teams is forced to confront losing.From getting under Guardiola’s skin to discovering the deeply emotional side of City’s superstar players – and even spotting Erling Haaland’s elaborate hair-care routine – Macdonald found plenty that surprised him along the way.In an exclusive chat with ETimes, he opens up about his experience with Guardiola and the City squad, his fascination with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, and his upcoming film ‘The Runner’ starring Gal Gadot. He also explains why, for him, documentaries and narrative films are ultimately “two sides of the same coin.”You’ve told stories about people the world already feels it knows, from Whitney Houston to Bob Marley. How do you find the person behind that public image, particularly with someone like Pep Guardiola?Kevin Macdonald: Well, the first thing is that I’m not really a football fan. And that’s probably the secret in this instance, because I asked the stupid questions that maybe a football fan or somebody who knows a lot about the sport wouldn’t ask because they already feel they know or they feel like they look foolish.So I was able to say to Pep and to the other people at Man City, you know, I don’t know anything about this game. I’m like, treat me like I’m an alien who needs everything explained to them.So I think that’s one thing. And the other thing is just that I’m interested because I’m not a fan of the sport necessarily. I’m interested in the human drama.I’m interested in the human beings, and I’m trying to portray the players and Pep and everyone else as human beings. And I’m trying to find what is emotional and dramatic in the human side of it.What made Pep and Manchester City the right story for you at this point in your career?Kevin Macdonald: Well, to be honest, it was something that the producer came to me and said, would you be interested in doing something with Pep and Man City? And my first response was, ‘Well, no. I don’t know anything about football. I don’t know anything really about Pep’.But then I did a little research into Pep, and I met him, and I thought he was one of the most charismatic and interesting people I’d ever come across. I’ve obviously worked with lots of movie stars, and Pep seemed to me to have more charisma than most movie stars. He is a very intriguing character, a very emotional and warm person, who wears his emotions on his sleeve, as they say, and he doesn’t even try to hide it.And I think he enjoyed being interviewed by somebody who was interested in not just asking statistics questions or questions about what was going to happen in the transfer window, but questions about maybe the deeper themes of his life.Most sports documentaries celebrate triumphs. ‘A Beautiful Obsession’ spends significant time with City’s struggles, defeats and moments of self-doubt. Why was it important for you to tell that side of the story?Kevin Macdonald: It’s just more interesting! Because I think part of what I do when I make any film, is to think, ‘What can I do that’s different? What can I do that’s going to make, show people something?’Football is one of the most watched and analysed things on the planet. So it’s very hard to do something that’s different, and which makes people feel like, oh, I’m seeing something that I haven’t seen before.And I think talking about what it’s like to lose is one of those things. And in fact, I wanted to call the film, the series, ‘Winning and Losing’, but Man City didn’t want the word ‘Losing’ in the title. But it (A Beautiful Obsession) is, about what it’s like to lose. And as Pep actually says at the last episode, which you haven’t seen, he talks about coming to terms with losing, and the fact you can’t win forever, and no sportsperson can win and win and win and win.And the effort that goes into that, it just isn’t possible physically to carry on at a certain point. And to see somebody going through that kind of struggle is fascinating as drama and as television.And I think in the first episode, you see this bit where Pep goes, “it happens to you, Pep, even to you.” So he’s got this mythology about himself. But he’s having to face up to the fact it is mythology. It’s not reality that you can win forever.You had remarkable access to the locker room. What did spending so much time with the players reveal about them that fans don’t usually get to see?Kevin Macdonald: Well, my impression of the players is that, first of all, most of the footage in the locker room was filmed by a cameraman who they know very well, and who Pep knows very well, and they’re used to him being there, so he’s invisible to them.And that’s what makes the footage so great, because it’s a real fly-on-the-wall. They’re not conscious of the camera, so they’re acting completely as they would normally.Whereas if an outsider was to come in, they would be worried. So that’s one thing I was very lucky to be working with the in-house cameraman at City.But I think my impression of the players, which was really surprising to me, is that they really care. Emotionally, they really care. And you think that they’re millionaires, and they get paid too much money, and that they’re spoiled people. But my impression of them is the opposite of that, that these are people who every triumph means so much, every loss is like a stab in the heart.I’ve got three teenage boys, and I look at these players, and I see the teenage boy, I see the vulnerability, the pretending to be mature, but actually, they’re just vulnerable boys, especially because so many of them are young.And so many of them have had their life experiences very limited. Their experience is only football from a very early age. So I thought they were really sweet, and really emotionally open. (In the docu) I think I concentrated very much on just seeing their faces, just watching them. And I thought that told far more than what they could say, because when they talk, they tend to say the lines that they think they’re meant to say, or that they’re trained to say, but they can’t hide the real emotion kept on their faces.So a lot of the time, we’re just watching them and seeing them respond.Erling Haaland has become one of football’s biggest sensations. Was there anything about him that surprised you – particularly now that he has a large female fan-following?Kevin Macdonald: Him looking after his hair (laughs). He spends quite a lot of time looking after his hair. In fact, there’s a lot of hairspray in the changing room, which surprised me. There’s a lot of hairspray spraying. And he’s a really healthy person. There’s a lot of stuff about him obsessing about, you know, eating raw milk and eating lots of protein, so you see him a lot of the time, his trademark is he’s got a huge steak. After the games, he has a huge tomahawk steak and he’s just wandering around, topless in the changing room, eating this big steak.So that’s quite funny.You’ve made documentaries about some of the biggest names in the world. Is there someone you’ve recently become fascinated by?Kevin Macdonald: Well, I did talk a couple of years ago to Shah Rukh Khan, one of the biggest actors in India, about doing a documentary, and we talked about it, but the time wasn’t right, I don’t think, but he totally fascinates me.So I would like to do something about him and to understand why he is such a huge, such a huge star, beloved by so many people. That really intrigues me. So maybe he’ll read this and get in touch? (Laughs).You’re also moving back into narrative filmmaking with ‘The Runner’, starring Gal Gadot. Do documentaries and features feed into each other, or do you enjoy the challenge of switching gears?Kevin Macdonald: I love the variety. And I think I’m a person who’s easily bored. So variety is a good thing.And I think they’re both two sides of the same coin, because they’re both about telling stories, just using different tools to do it.And I think when I make a documentary, I’m trying to make it as, in some ways, as much like a drama as possible, you know, to involve you with the characters, to engage you with a strong story that you want to know what happens next, but using real material.A Beautiful Obsession is a four-part documentary capturing the final two seasons of Pep Guardiola’s historic decade at Manchester City, one of the most dominant runs in the history of English football. The series opens at the peak of City’s powers, fresh off their fourth consecutive Premier League title in 2024, before chronicling the dramatic collapse that followed, a record-breaking 26-game unbeaten run brought to a shuddering halt by a string of defeats that left Guardiola and the club searching for answers.The series, which begins streaming on Lionsgate Play in India from August 21, also documents the emotional farewells of Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and John Stones, the players who built the dynasty alongside him.The series culminates with Manchester City securing a domestic cup double in the 2025/26 season before Guardiola bids farewell after ten trophy-filled years, six Premier League titles, the UEFA Champions League, three FA Cups and five EFL Cups.