Derek Jeter talks openly (mostly) with director Randy Wilkins in ESPN documentary

Derek Jeter curses.

Who knew? Not even Randy Wilkins, the director of ESPN’s seven-part series on old No. 2, “The Captain,” which premieres on July 18.

“OK, I have to be very honest, yes, that was the one thing that took me aback,” Wilkins said, laughing, in an interview with Newsday. “It definitely took a second or two to process that Derek Jeter knew curse words.

“So yeah, I was totally taken aback by hearing him drop some profanity, and then I got used to it after a while. But the first time I heard it, it threw me off, for sure.”

Wilkins, 42, came to the project with impeccable Jeter fan credentials, having grown up in the Bronx at the height of late 1990s Jeter-mania.

And he entered it knowing Jeter was prepared to be more candid than he was during his playing days, having spoken to him via Zoom to establish rapport.

“I think a lot of it was just building the relationship and earning his trust so that when he got in the chair for the film, he was comfortable and vulnerable and candid,” Wilkins said.

“I was extremely confident that he was going to open up. He was going to give us details. He wasn't going to be the buttoned-up guy for 20 years with the Yankees in his dealings with the media.”

The cursing was an outgrowth of that comfort, not gratuitous but rather a sign that at 48, it is time to relax his public image. He even joined Twitter and Instagram recently.

Best gift of the day and so true. Happy Father’s Day! pic.twitter.com/YJ0ETakmKX

— Derek Jeter (@derekjeter) June 19, 2022

But make no mistake: Jeter still is Jeter, a cautious person with some areas that remain off-limits, such as his dating history. He does colorfully refute a widely circulated story from that area of his life, though.

Like “The Last Dance,” ESPN’s 2020 series about Michael Jordan and the 1990s Bulls, “The Captain” was more a collaboration with Jeter and his circle than a completely independent journalistic endeavor.

But Wilkins said he never felt restricted.

“I know the natural response when you're dealing with somebody of Derek’s stature is that he's super-controlling and dictating what's in there and what's not, but that honestly wasn't the case," Wilkins said. “We collaborated . . . To be quite honest, there wasn't a moment where I felt like my freedom as a director was threatened or taken away from me.”

Over the course of their four on-camera interviews, Wilkins said, Jeter shared more than either of them anticipated when they began.

One of the series’ strongest points is its in-depth look into Jeter’s relationship with Alex Rodriguez.

“I think Derek’s and Alex's stories are intertwined with one another,” Wilkins said. “They're in some ways inseparable . . . I think that there's a lot of insight that people don't know because Derek, quite frankly, never really spoke about it like this.”

Rodriguez is one of about 90 interview subjects in the series, including Jordan, a personal highlight for Wilkins. “Besides meeting Derek, that was the pinnacle of the entire experience,” the director said.

Unlike “The Last Dance,” which was built around behind-the-scenes footage from the 1997-98 Bulls season, “The Captain” mostly relies on publicly seen video from that era.

But while Jordan had little to say about his personal life in “The Last Dance,” Jeter’s wife, Hannah, is a big part of the final two episodes of “The Captain.”

Jeter said after a screening at the Tribeca Film Festival that he wanted the series to serve as a chronicle of his life and career for his three young daughters.

Wilkins came to the project via Spike Lee, a mentor who was his professor in NYU’s graduate film program and beyond.

Jeter initially wanted Lee to direct, but he was busy with another project and recommended Wilkins instead.

“I almost dropped the phone,” Wilkins said. “One, because I was shocked that Derek wanted to do a documentary, but also that I might be the person with the honor and privilege to tell the story.”

Wilkins said that on the first Zoom meeting, “We hit it off like I had known Derek for 10 years, and then a couple of weeks later, I got the gig.”

The first episode premieres on ESPN and ESPN+ after the MLB Home Run Derby; the other six will be shown over the following four Thursday nights.

Asked what he hopes viewers will take from it, Wilkins said, “The biggest thing is to learn more about Derek that is outside of that public persona that he created for himself for 20 years – that he's an incredibly engaging, insightful man that transcended the game.

“There’s a human being behind that No. 2 jersey and the film was to introduce that man to the rest of the world.”

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.