Steven Spielberg Quotes

I basically took something that was extremely erotic and very intentional, and I reduced it to a simple kiss. I got a lot of criticism for that. ~ Steven Spielberg

I think one of the worst things that happened to me was, you know, my voluntary fallout with my father. And then the greatest thing that happened to me was when I saw the light, and realized I needed to love him in a way that he could love me back. ~ Steven Spielberg

I never felt comfortable with myself, because I was never part of the majority. I always felt awkward and shy and on the outside of the momentum of my friends' lives. ~ Steven Spielberg

Movies are always in a state of locomotion. You start with a general idea of how it should feel and then you find you've got a runaway train. You have to race to catch up: the movie is telling you what it wants to become, and when that happens there's no greater feeling. ~ Steven Spielberg

Before I go off and direct a movie, I always look at four films. They tend to be The Seven Samurai, Lawrence Of Arabia, It's A Wonderful Life and The Searchers. ~ Steven Spielberg

I was afraid of small spaces and I was afraid of the tree outside my window, and I had all these phobias. I think many kids have those phobias, but I probably had more than most. ~ Steven Spielberg

If movies generically don't work, you immediately start to pick apart what ingredients contributed to that. If any movie is working, hopefully how it was made will be the least of your concern. You'll only want to have a god time. ~ Steven Spielberg

I felt like an alien. I always felt like I never belonged to any group that I wanted to belong to. ~ Steven Spielberg

My first reaction, every time I delve into an episode of history that I don't know very much about, is anger that my teachers never taught me about it. ~ Steven Spielberg

I like how you can go back and watch David Lean and John Ford and see the influence that had on Steven Spielberg, especially David Lean, in the camerawork, and yet, you don't watch any Spielberg movie and think of David Lean. Once you're looking for it, you see it all, but it's not in your face. ~ Colin Trevorrow

It's just such an honor to say that I was in something by Steven Spielberg. I feel so blessed I got to meet such great people, and I got to go to a beautiful place, Vancouver, and I had a great time. ~ Dakota Fanning

Lincoln's leadership is based on a number of precepts, but my favorite one is that he acted in the name, and for the good, of the people. ~ Steven Spielberg

I've worked with Steven Spielberg three times. I'm proud to say that I'm one of those actors that continues to get hired by the same directors. ~ Joe Pantoliano

'The Color Purple' is the kind of character piece that a director like Sidney Lumet could do brilliantly with one hand tied behind his back. ~ Steven Spielberg

I play a character called Lieutenant Delcourt who, in the original comics, pops up from time to time to rescue Tintin. I guess if you've grown up watching movies like 'Jaws' and 'Indiana Jones,' it's pretty surreal to find yourself on set with Steven Spielberg directing you. ~ Tony Curran

I believe in 3D for certain kinds of films. I certainly believe in using 3D for all things in animation because animation has such clarity and so much depth of focus. It worked great with 'Avatar' because 70 percent of that film is animated. ~ Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg is unique. I feel that the kinds of movies he loves are the same kinds of movies that the big mass audience loves. He's very fortunate because he can do the things he naturally likes the best, and he's been very successful. ~ Francis Ford Coppola

When you listen, you learn. You absorb like a sponge and your life becomes so much better than when you are just trying to be listened to all the time. ~ Steven Spielberg

I committed to directing 'Catch Me If You Can' not because of the divorce component, but principally because Frank Abagnale did things that were the most astonishing scams I had ever heard. ~ Steven Spielberg

When I grow up, I still want to be a director. ~ Steven Spielberg

I think that a movie can only be an adjunct or only a supplement to books, to different points of view, to scholars, historians and your own teachers. ~ Steven Spielberg

When Steven Spielberg comes to you and says, 'Hey do you want to write a movie about robots?' You just say yes. ~ Drew Goddard

I interviewed survivors, I went to Poland, saw the cities and spent time with the people and spoke to the Jews who had come back to Poland after the war and talked about why they had come back. ~ Steven Spielberg

Because television doesn't offer the kind of budget that a movie offers, you've got to be a little more careful where you spend the money to put the fiction in science. ~ Steven Spielberg

My first time acting for camera really was for Steven Spielberg in War Horse. I was trained in theater and I was actually working in theater at the time. I had a small role with the Royal Shakespeare Company, which is a huge prestigious theater company back in England. I honestly thought that was as good as it got. ~ Jeremy Irvine

I have a choice - I can either watch all the dailies, or I can follow the social media. I can't do both. ~ Steven Spielberg

I did 50 takes on Robert Shaw assembling the Greener Gun on 'Jaws.' The shark wasn't working, so I just kept shooting to make the production report look like we were accomplishing something and to keep cast and crew from going crazy from boredom. It was a strategic indulgence. ~ Steven Spielberg

In the re-creation of combat situations, and this is coming from a director who's never been in one, being mindful of what these veterans have actually gone through, you find that the biggest concern is that you don't look at war as a geopolitical endeavor. ~ Steven Spielberg

I have made almost as many films in England as I have in America. I will come back to England again and again. ~ Steven Spielberg

I'm certainly hoping that 3D gets to the point where people do not notice it because once they stop noticing it, it just becomes another tool and an aid to help tell a story. ~ Steven Spielberg

All presidents swear an oath to the Constitution to keep this country united, and when the country fell apart, Lincoln had to put it back together again, with a lot of help. But he bore total responsibility. ~ Steven Spielberg

Tracking action without cutting is the least jarring method of placing the audience into a real-time experience where they are the ones making the subtle choices of where and when to look. ~ Steven Spielberg

It [Lincoln movie] had nothing to do with politics. It had nothing to do with holding a mirror up to the way we conduct our business on Capitol Hill. This was meant to be a story, a Lincoln portrait if you will. I think any time is the right time for a very compelling story, any time. ~ Steven Spielberg

There is no such thing as science fiction, there is only science eventuality. ~ Steven Spielberg

Meeting Oprah Winfrey, I cried like a baby. Meeting Steven Spielberg, I cried like a baby. Meeting Denzel Washington, I gushed like a crazy woman. If I don't get excited or star struck by someone I've been dying to meet, it's time to retire. ~ Octavia Spencer

Every time I go to a movie, it's magic, no matter what the movie's about. ~ Steven Spielberg

I don't know when the last time was that Steven Spielberg or George Lucas made a movie with Universal, but I can tell you that Universal is leading the charge. They're looking at film differently. They're planning ahead in a way that I've never seen a studio do before. They're believing in a relationship between fan and film franchise, in a new way. They're more receptive to an audience, in part because of social media, in a way we've never been allowed. ~ Vin Diesel

I'm not a great man to my children. I'm just 'Pop.' The more involved I am with my kids, it keeps my head flat on top. ~ Steven Spielberg

I had no choice. It was just something that happened. I was always looking for ways to act out, and I got a camera and it acted out for me. ~ Steven Spielberg

When Steven Spielberg thinks you're the one, then I'll do anything. If you want me to put a dead horse on my head, I'll do it. ~ Charlotte Le Bon

The Indiana Jones films have a built in Disney connection, as director Steven Spielberg sent his sound designers down to Disneyland to record Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to provide a soundtrack for the second film's mine chase scene! ~ The Imagineers

I did not make this film about Frank Abagnale because of what he did . but because of what he has done with his life the past 30 years. ~ Steven Spielberg

I think all directors should be animators ... ~ Steven Spielberg

You shouldn't dream your film, you should make it! ~ Steven Spielberg

Before statehood was achieved, Syria and Egypt had their tanks and military equipment lined up to invade Tel Aviv and destroy it; but the Israelis scrambled together an air force, some of it from old Second World War Messerschmidts, and the invasion was halted. ~ Steven Spielberg

The only time I have a good hunch the audience is going to be there is when I make the sequel to 'Jurassic Park' or I make another Indiana Jones movie. I know I've got a good shot at getting an audience on opening night. Everything else that is striking out into new territory is a crap shoot. ~ Steven Spielberg

With all the movies I've made about history, it's not really fun because you're trying to get it right. You've got history telling how it was, and then my imagination is telling me how I wish it had been, but I can't go there, so I have to censor myself. I'm very good about stopping myself from creating history that never occurred, but it's frustrating. ~ Steven Spielberg

I'm not in a race with anybody to make the biggest hit movie anymore. I am just trying to tell stories that I can stay interested in for the two years it takes me to supervise the writing and to direct them. ~ Steven Spielberg

Documentaries are the first line of education, and the second line of education is dramatization, such as 'The Pacific'. ~ Steven Spielberg

I always think if it's a good story, the audience can't wait to run out of the theater and go tweet somebody with the gist of a story, in a nutshell, almost, because it was that interesting. ~ Steven Spielberg

I worked with Steven Spielberg on Amistad ... he seemed so very secure in himself that he let me do things. ~ Anthony Hopkins

One of the gratuities about being a director is that you can volunteer yourself out of difficult details. ~ Steven Spielberg

My movies more often are told through pictures, not words. But in this case, the pictures took second position to the incredible words of Abraham Lincoln and his presence [ ... ] I was less interested in an outpouring of imagery than in letting the most human moment of this story evolve before us. ~ Steven Spielberg

When I don't have a story to tell, I'm a terror to live with. ~ Steven Spielberg

Even if I'd had a really happy relationship with my father and there was no emotional hiatus for a decade and a half, I probably would still have made some of the same choices for movies that I've made. ~ Steven Spielberg

The most amazing thing for me is that every single person who sees a movie, not necessarily one of my movies, brings a whole set of unique experiences. Now, through careful manipulation and good storytelling, you can get everybody to clap at the same time, to hopefully laugh at the same time, and to be afraid at the same time. ~ Steven Spielberg

I love editing. It's one of my favorite parts about filmmaking. ~ Steven Spielberg

I think that the perceived downs in my own career come from just managing my time and not feeling that I have enough time for my family or my friends. You could put that in the personal life category but it's all one category because I've got to balance my family. ~ Steven Spielberg

The influence of Steven Spielberg to my career is unquantifiable. Every day on the set with him is a master class in filmmaking. ~ Caroline Goodall

If I weren't a director, I would want to be a film composer. ~ Steven Spielberg

All through my career I've done what I can to discover new talent and give them a start. ~ Steven Spielberg

There is something about killing people at close range that is excruciating. It's bound to try a man's soul. ~ Steven Spielberg

The only time I'm totally happy is when I'm watching films or making them. ~ Steven Spielberg

Clint Eastwood is so fair and consistent. It does not matter who he is talking to, he is always nice. It doesn't matter whether he is with a production assistant or Steven Spielberg, he is friendly and never seems superior. I think it is hard for people to realize that he is accessible because they are caught up in the image and can't talk to him because he is 'Clint Eastwood', so they get tongue-tied. They get terrified. It is funny watching people with him. ~ Paul Walker

An ideal movie would be, like - to get this to happen, I have to work so much harder - but imagine Denzel Washington, Laurence Fishburne, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy ... Who else? Donald Faison. Directed by Steven Spielberg. That would be awesome. ~ Donald Faison

PRIOR (An awestruck whisper): God almighty.
Very Steven Spielberg. ~ Tony Kushner

You have many years ahead of you to create the dreams that we can't even imagine dreaming. You have done more for the collective unconscious of this planet than you will ever know. ~ Steven Spielberg

A lot of the films I've made probably could have worked just as well 50 years ago, and that's just because I have a lot of old-fashion values. ~ Steven Spielberg

I'm not a huge Steven Spielberg nerd, but I know about him and I know of his work. ~ Joel Courtney

I've always been interested in how we survive and how resourceful we are as Americans. ~ Steven Spielberg

The most expensive habit in the world is celluloid, not heroin, and I need a fix every few years. ~ Steven Spielberg

I have always admired him (Bergman), and I wish I could be an equally good filmmaker as he is, but it will never happen. His love for the cinema almost gives me a guilty conscience ~ Steven Spielberg

In '83, not only was there no such thing as performance motion capture technology, there was no such thing as digital animation. This was the analog era. ~ Steven Spielberg

Technology can be our best friend, and technology can also be the biggest party pooper of our lives. It interrupts our own story, interrupts our ability to have a thought or a daydream, to imagine something wonderful because we're too busy bridging the walk from the cafeteria back to the office on the cell phone. ~ Steven Spielberg

3D needs a trained eye. It can't be done by everybody. People who just do 3D just for the sake of commercializing their movie another five or six percent and they don't know really how to do it, they should care how to do it better by bringing other directors and collaborators into their lives to help teach and instruct how you really make a 3D movie because it's not just like putting a new lens on a camera and forgetting it. It takes a lot of very careful consideration. It will change your approach to where you put the cameras. So, 3D isn't for everybody. ~ Steven Spielberg

My novella, 'The Lucky One,' is inspired in part by my dad and also by a Holocaust survivor I interviewed for the Steven Spielberg Survivors of the Shoah Foundation. ~ Jenna Blum

Whatever affect any of my films have on audiences, I just kind of stop at the door. I make them and I just don't go outside after they're over. ~ Steven Spielberg

So I try to re-invent my own eye every time I tackle a new subject. But it's hard, because everybody has style. You can't help it. ~ Steven Spielberg

My problem is that my imagination won't turn off. I wake up so excited I can't eat breakfast. I've never run out of energy. It's not like OPEC oil; I don't worry about a premium going on my energy. It's just always been there. I got it from my mom. ~ Steven Spielberg

As a Jew I am aware of how important the existence of Israel is for the survival of us all. And because I am proud of being Jewish, I am worried by the growing anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in the world. ~ Steven Spielberg

My dad took me out to see a meteor shower when I was a little kid, and it was scary for me because he woke me up in the middle of the night. My heart was beating; I didn't know what he wanted to do. He wouldn't tell me, and he put me in the car and we went off, and I saw all these people lying on blankets, looking up at the sky. ~ Steven Spielberg

Having a phone call from Steven Spielberg was just a fantastic rite of passage. I loved it, and he was very focused, very likable, strictly business, and really sharp. ~ Peter Morgan

The machinery of the democratic process is really no different today from what it was 150 years ago. ~ Steven Spielberg

I was a scared kid ... I think I was born a nervous wreck, and I think movies were one way to find a way transferring my own private horrors to everyone else's lives. It was less of an escape and more of an exorcism. ~ Steven Spielberg

It's still a mystery to me, but even though my mother was like an older sister to me, I kind of put her up on a pedestal. ~ Steven Spielberg

I simply adore 'The Simpsons.' I go to bed in a 'Simpsons' T-shirt. ~ Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg making a Ready Player One movie is going to change the course of human history as pertains to how quickly virtual reality is adopted. He's going to shows the whole world the potential of VR, which is one of the reasons I think he's doing it. Once you have to compose for 360 degrees, and a movie is different every time you watch it depending on where you choose to look, it's like the dawn of a new era. ~ Ernest Cline

I even get inspired by movies that aren't very good, because there's always something good in movies that are collectively thought of as a failure. There's good in everything, I find. ~ Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg seems to have wanted to be a director from 13. He put his dog in a certain position and made him eat at four o'clock. He liked to direct it. But, to me, directing is tedious. Especially if you're acting in it. And I'm inherently lazy. ~ Albert Brooks

The only thing that gets me back to directing is good scripts. ~ Steven Spielberg

The turning point in my career was Jaws. It was a turning point because I was a director-for-hire before Jaws and because it was such a big hit I could do any movie I wanted and Hollywood just wrote me a cheque. ~ Steven Spielberg

Hardly any filmmakers can just make anything they want. Obviously, there are some exceptions, like Steven Spielberg, but he has that mainstream mentality and the kinds of films he loves to make are the kind that appeal to this big, mass audience. ~ Catherine Hardwicke

I don't go through a torturous intellectual process to decide what to direct. I know what I want to direct the second I read something or hear a story. I just know when it grabs me in a certain way I want to direct it. And then I spend the next four to six months trying to talk myself out of it, because directing is really hard! But it's true, I know essentially when and what I want to do next ... it's an undeniable feeling I get and it's not the same feeling I get when I wind up producing something. ~ Steven Spielberg

It starts with the writer-it's a familiar dictum, but somehow it keeps getting forgotten along the way. No film-maker, irrespective of his electronic bag of tricks, can ever afford to forget his commitment to the written word. ~ Steven Spielberg

I can't impress people with the pedigree of obscure French filmmakers that got me into film. It was Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg. I really thought I wanted to make dumb action movies. ~ Doug Liman

The only person who can, with impunity, make the movie he wants to make, has got to be Steven Spielberg. ~ Frank Darabont

Some movies I make for myself. I just sort of make them for myself. I do that sometimes when the subject matter is very sensitive and very personal and I really can't imagine I'm an audience. ~ Steven Spielberg

In high school, I got smacked and kicked around. Two bloody noses. It was horrible. ~ Steven Spielberg

I feel I'm all over my movies. I know my movies are all over me. ~ Steven Spielberg

I've always been very hopeful which I guess isn't strange coming from me. I don't want to call myself an optimist. I want to say that I've always been full of hope. I've never lost that. I have a lot of hope for this country and for the entire world ... ~ Steven Spielberg