MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. -- Tom vs. Time director Gotham Chopra got a unique look into Tom Brady's life while filming his six-part documentary series on Facebook Watch. You can check out the full series here.
MassLive's Kevin Dillon sat down with Chopra Thursday after an pre-screening of the fifth episode of the series, which will go live on Sunday -- the day of the Super Bowl. Here's a snippet of the Q&A with Chopra, which can be seen in full in the video above.
Q: How did you develop your level of trust with Tom Brady?
A: "I mean, he's a friend. It's no different a what's different is who he is and what he's accomplished and all of that. But what's not different is talking to your friend and feeling trusting.
"Again, it's not going live to tape, we're not putting this up on the internet tomorrow. We are capturing this and we are going to then look at it and think about it and talk about it more and do it again and stuff like that and figure it out together. I really look at myself as a partner, you know, in this. Not some reporter who is coming in and trying to sort of capture something and run with it.
"I think it's over time. And that's just the last year, as we have been making this. Then there's like the years before where we are just sort of definitely closer now than we were before. I've known him now for a couple of years and I think there is a comfort level there."
Q: How would you characterize that back and forth between Tom and Gisele about his retirement?
A: "I mean they have a great chemistry. I think that's in part because both of them obviously know what it's like to live under the glare. She has been as successful if not more. She's been out of the house working since she has been 14 years old. I think they relate to each other in a way that most people probably don't.
"I think Gisele is a student of spirituality. She has read a million books and she has practiced it in her own life and experimented with all sorts of things. Tom sort of has the spiritualtiy at his core with football. It is his spiritual pursuit. But she has a way to sort of articulate it in a way he doesn't necessarily. I think they have a great sort of chemistry.
"I think she has enormous respect for what football means to him. So there's a lot made out of this retirement talk. I don't know that he plans on retiring any time soon, and I think she knows that and respects that."
Q: Were you surprised at some of the criticism of Brady's children?
A: "I mean no, I certainly didn't expect it. But I'm not surprised by it, I guess. In general as an artist, you never put something out and not expect that there's going to be criticism. I'm a parent and I'm a friend of Tom and Gisele's and there's a sensitivity to that and a part of me that just wants to reach out and make sure they're ok.
"I think they're used to it and they live in the fishbowl and they know it and I'm not surprised by Tom's reaction. I'm also not surprised by a couple hours later, he was the guy saying, 'Hey, let's relax and not go overboard here and not string this guy up.' Yeah, not surprised. But you can't do this sort of stuff a and you certainly can't have the level of success he does and worry too much about criticism."