With generations of directors dropping by and leaving a mark on the meandering course of the entertainment business, none have been as influential and relevant as Steven Spielberg. This status that has been held by the filmmaker ever since he set the screens alight with the 1975 thriller Jaws has remained uncontested by any who has had an appreciation for and knowledge of the medium of movies.
And as such, it is a great privilege to be called “life-changing” by the filmmaker, considering his experience working with the best that the industry has had to offer over the past half-century. And despite public opinion, it is not Tom Cruise who holds the coveted rank in the eyes of Spielberg.
Steven Spielberg Has Favorites and Tom Cruise Doesn’t Cut It
Even before 2019 arrived and put an end to social gatherings and weekend celebrations, Steven Spielberg knew Hollywood was reaching the end of an era. The event was by no means as cataclysmic as a global pandemic, but it was disruptive enough to forever alter the century-old practice of filmmaking and the theatre industry.
So when Top Gun: Maverick seemingly presented the audience with the experience of a lifetime (quickly followed by James Cameron’s epic aquatic saga), it was rightfully declared that Tom Cruise had singlehandedly saved the entire theatrical distribution business, in Spielberg’s own words. But that hardly makes Cruise worthy enough to be called the legendary filmmaker’s favorite actor by choice.
When asked about it, the Jurassic Park director who previously worked with Cruise on the 2005 sci-fi epic, War of the Worlds, claimed:
“I have worked with many fine, wonderful actors who all bring different values to their characters. I have learned how they arrive at those very private and personal moments of consolidation where they are really able to imprint on a character, to deliver the message, convince us they are that person.
Everybody has a different technique and I quite frankly don’t care how anybody gets to where they need to go. But I will say that I think [Daniel Day-Lewis] and Tom Hanks are the two actors who I have had life-changing experiences with as a director.”
That is high praise coming from the director who himself has made a life-changing contribution to the industry of film and television. Having worked with Daniel Day-Lewis in the 2012 film, Lincoln (that holds an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and with Tom Hanks in five films between 1998 and 2017, ranging from Saving Private Ryan to The Post, Spielberg’s choices may be fair in calling these actors’ contributions life-altering.
Steven Spielberg Changes the Course of Hollywood
Also read: The Fabelmans TIFF Review: One of Steven Spielberg’s Most Tender Films Yet
With films like Jaws, Indiana Jones, E.T., Jurassic Park, Empire of the Sun, and Schindler’s List to his credit, Steven Spielberg is perhaps the greatest and most versatile director to have ever lived in the history of cinema. Equipped with a filmography as wide-ranging as the medium of film itself, the director set out to conquer a dream of making stories come to life. And through his stories, he has become truly immortal.
The director, in his latest project, attempts to recreate a version of the life he had lived as a child growing up to love cinema and capture all its beauty within millimeters of reels. The Fabelmans raked in 7 Oscar nominations although failing to win a single one. In his career, however, Steven Spielberg has held 3 Oscar wins and 19 more nominations over the course of his brilliant and illustrious career of 55 years.
Source: Irish Examiner
