The One Steven Spielberg Scene That Made The Director Himself Cry On Set [SXSW]
by Ryan Scott · /FilmWe may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
Steven Spielberg has had the definition of a storied career. He's the name that comes to mind for the average person if you just say "director." He's been behind everything from "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" to "Jurassic Park" and everything in between. Spielberg has created many memorable, emotional moments in his career as a filmmaker, but which of them moved him? One in particular moved him so much that he broke down in tears.
Spielberg was recently featured as a keynote speaker at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas, in part to promote his latest sci-fi movie "Disclosure Day," which just dropped a new trailer. During the conversation, he discussed filming 2012's "Lincoln," which stars Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln as he tries to end the Civil War and get the 13th Amendment passed to abolish slavery.
One scene, in which Lincoln tries to convince his fellow politicians that this must be done, resonated deeply with Spielberg. Here's what he had to say about it:
"Daniel Day-Lewis in 'Lincoln,' when he's trying to explain to his cabinet the urgency of passing the 13th Amendment into Constitutional law. It's two shots, both shots are moving. One shot starts at the end of the table and is slowly moving. It's a four-minute speech And then, with one cutaway to David Strathairn, Secretary of State Seward, the camera then goes to a close-up and finishes on his close-up. To this day, talking to you about it, I've never gotten over that scene, or how he played Lincoln."
It took Spielberg years to convince Daniel Day-Lewis to star in "Lincoln." Clearly, that was time well spent. Not just because of what was caught on camera, but also what happened afterward.
Daniel Day Lewis made Steven Spielberg cry as Abraham Lincoln
"At the end of that scene, at the end of that first take, I had to leave the set," Steven Spielberg explained. "Daniel [Day-Lewis] was worried because he was looking around, and the director wasn't on the set. He actually, to this day, calls me skipper. He said, 'Where's the skipper?'"
One of the producers then let Day-Lewis know where Spielberg was. Day-Lewis had a couple of rules on the set of "Lincoln," one of which being that he wanted to be addressed as Mr. Lincoln or Mr. President. So, mind you, this is all happening as he's in character. That's what makes the next part so compelling: the actor then went to comfort Spielberg in character. As he explained:
"I was in the other room crying and Mr. Lincoln walked into the room, saw me, sat down near me and put his arms around me."
Not everyone has the opportunity to be comforted by an Oscar-winning actor while they're crying, let alone while he's in character as Abraham Lincoln, but that's the charmed life that Spielberg has lived. It speaks volumes that, out of everything that's happened in his career, this moment stands out above many others.
During the discussion, Spielberg also revealed that he's developing a Western, one with "no tropes," though it's still very unclear what that's going to look like. Whether or not it winds up being his next movie or something that takes longer to get across the finish line remains to be seen.