Steven Spielberg, the man known for directing some iconic movies like Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, and, Jaws had his fair share of iconic moments throughout his career in Hollywood. From casting actors to giving away films, Spielberg has quite some stories to tell.
One of these iconic moments came when Spielberg was looking to cast an actress in his 1989 film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. With Harrison Ford in the lead, a certain German actress was rejected by Spielberg for one of the most bizarre reasons!
When Steven Spielberg Rejected Gudrun Landgrebe
Being the third installment of the Indiana Jones franchise, the story depicted Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones searching for his long-lost father who disappeared while looking for the Holy Grail. With the previous two films earning big, Spielberg had to raise the bar with this third installment and he did.
However, the casting process for the film was a little troublesome for the director. With Harrison Ford in the lead (obviously), Spielberg was in search of a female protagonist who could share the screen with the iconic hero.
Taking numerous auditions and inviting several actresses to read the part of Elsa Schneider, the casting process of the film began. As per a report via X, German actress Gudrun Landgrebe was invited to read the part of Elsa Schneider.
However, Spielberg had to reject the actress because of one single problem. Gudrun Landgrebe looked a lot like Amy Irving… who was the ex-wife of Steven Spielberg. Instead of Landgrebe, Spielberg hired Alison Doody in the role but he had to reject Landgrebe in the process.
German actress Gudrun Landgrebe was invited to read for Elsa but Spielberg said no as she looked like Amy Irving, Spielbergâs ex-wife. He cast Alison Doody who, at 21, was 25 years younger than Harrison Ford.
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Having spent decades in Hollywood, Spielberg has a lot of stories to his name. One of the most notable stories was when he directed the film The Color Purple which went on to win 11 Oscar nominations. Despite the film being great, Spielberg was criticized heavily as a director!
Steven Spielberg And The Color Purple
In 1985, Spielberg decided to direct a film starring Oprah Winfrey titled The Color Purple. Depicting the story of an African-American woman and her ups and downs through 40 years, the film received great ratings and a whopping 11 Oscar nominations.
Despite the success, director Spielberg was heavily criticized for his involvement in the film. In a controversial statement, Steven Spielberg confessed that most of the criticism was because he was a White man directing a film about African-Americans!
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Spielberg felt that he was the wrong choice for the film!
Most of the criticism came from directors that felt that we had overlooked them and that it should have been a Black director telling a Black story. That was the main criticism.
He further continued,
And I was shy about it. In that sense, perhaps I was the wrong director to acquit some of the more s*xually honest encounters between Shug and Celie because I did soften those. 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.
But the criticism didn’t deter Spielberg from his path of making movies. As his famous line goes “Certain movies can stand the test of time”, Spielberg continued his journey in Hollywood and created the movies that we know and love.
On the other hand, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade received a rating of 8.2/10 on IMDB and a whopping 84% on Rotten Tomatoes. The 1989 film is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.
