Discovering the Magic Behind the Camera: 10 Fascinating Facts About Steven Spielberg

When you think about brilliant directors, Steven Spielberg is the first name that comes to mind. Take the Google test: typing Steven Spielberg into Google returns approximately 62 000 000 results (0.66 seconds). He is, without a doubt, one of the most well-known directors of all time.

His films are inspirational and tell unforgettable experiences. Consider films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., Jaws, Jurassic Park, Lincoln, Munich, Indiana Jones, Saving Private Ryan, and Schindler’s List.

Steven Allan Spielberg is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and business magnate who was born on December 18, 1946. Spielberg is regularly regarded as one of the most popular and influential filmmakers in movie history, as well as one of the major pioneers of the New Hollywood era. Spielberg’s films have covered a wide range of themes and genres during the course of his four-decade career.

Early science fiction and adventure films by Spielberg were seen as archetypes of modern Hollywood blockbuster cinema. His films began to confront humanistic topics such as the Holocaust, the transatlantic slave trade, war, and terrorism in later years. He is one of DreamWorks Studios’ co-founders.

For Schindler’s List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1995), Spielberg earned the Academy Award for Best Director (1998). Three of Spielberg’s films set box office records: Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and Jurassic Park (1993).

He also directed The Adventures of Tintin (2011) and Ready Player One (2018), as well as historical plays Amistad (1997), Munich (2005), War Horse (2011), Lincoln (2012), Bridge of Spies (2015), The Post (2017), and the musical West Side Story (2021).

10 Interesting facts about Steven Spielberg

1. He frequently uses a piano as an element in key scenes Schindler’s List (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Minority Report (2002).

2. He also frequently casts Tom Hanks, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Frank Welkerand Tom Cruise.

3. He is the godfather of Drew Barrymore and Gwyneth Paltrow.

4. In Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), the humans and aliens use music and computers to communicate. Spielberg was born to a computer scientist father and a musician mother. This truth was just recently brought to his attention by presenter James Lipton on Inside the Actors Studio (1994), and he was ecstatic when he realized the connection.

5. Has worked with four actors from the Hannibal Lecter film series, in reverse order to the order in which the Lecter films came out. Ralph Fiennes in Schindler’s List (1993), who went on to play Francis Dollarhyde in Red Dragon, was the first one he worked with (2002). The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) starred Julianne Moore, who played Clarice Starling in the third Hannibal Lecter picture (2001). Following that, he directed Amistad (1997) with Anthony Hopkins, who would later play Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Following that, he directed Saving Private Ryan (1998), starring Dennis Farina, who played Jack Crawford in the first Lecter film, Manhunter (1986).

6. His iconic character “E.T.” from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) is ranked #26 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

7. Steven Spielberg is a fan of Doctor Who (1963).

8. He is at his most productive and creative when working on more than one project at a time, be it as producer and/or director: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial  + Poltergeist (1982) / Schindler’s List  + Jurassic Park (1993) / War Horse + The Adventures of Tintin (2011), etc.

9. He struggled with dyslexia his whole life but was not diagnosed until very recently (approx. 2007).

10. Has worked with several actors from the Star Wars films. Harrison Ford and William Hootkins appeared in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan also wrote two Star Wars films. Julian Glover and Michael Sheard appeared in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Samuel L. Jackson appeared in Jurassic Park (1993). Liam Neeson appeared in Schindler’s List (1993). Ian Abercrombie (voice of Palpatine/Darth Sidious on the Clone Wars cartoon) appeared in The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997). Christopher Lee appeared in 1941 (1979). Max von Sydow appeared in Minority Report (2002). Artificial Intelligence (2001) featured Rena Owen and Brendan Gleeson, whose son Domhnall Gleeson appears in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015). E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) was written by Harrison Ford‘s then-girlfriend Melissa Mathison, and Eve Mavrakis, wife of Ewan McGregor, worked on Empire of the Sun (1987).

 Steven Spielberg filmography