Great filmmakers can also be great friends, and Steven Spielberg and Richard Attenborough were shining examples of this theory. While both men belong to different generations by age and cinema, they constantly crossed paths professionally and managed to forge a close friendship which saw Attenborough starring in Spielberg’s cult film Jurassic Park.
Their biggest moment as competitors came during the 1983 Oscars when Attenborough’s film Gandhi was pitted against Spielberg’s E.T. While the latter was widely expected to take home the Best Director award that year, it was his senior colleague who won the golden statuette. Interestingly, this big Oscar loss for Spielberg was the beginning of a lifelong friendship between the two stalwarts.
How Steven Spielberg And Richard Attenborough Became Friends
It is widely believed that two professionals in the same field with equal amount of expertise and talent can never be friends. But filmmaking veterans Steven Spielberg and Richard Attenborough proved that this statement is just a myth. The two celebrities’ friendship blossomed at the most unlikely of places- the Oscars 1983, where their films Gandhi and E.T were up for many awards in the same category.
While Attenborough was already a 20-year veteran in the business, Spielberg was the new wonderkid whose heartwarming film about a boy and an alien touched audiences across the world, making him a favorite to take home the Oscar for Best Director over Attenborough’s Gandhi. But this was not to be as Spielberg ended up losing the golden statuette to his senior colleague, which later sparked a huge debate with viewers.
This snub which could have led to friction between the two directors, turned out to be the start of a wonderful relationship thanks to Attenborough’s kind words for Spielberg. In the book Steven Spielberg: A Biography by Joseph McBride, the veteran recalled his shock on receiving the Best Director award that year and believed that it was his younger colleague who deserved it more than him.
“Steven and I were at opposite sides of the room, and when the winner’s name was announced after all the speeches and such, I literally had to be nudged. I couldn’t believe it. I got up from the table and it was a sort of knee-jerk actor’s reaction. I didn’t go to the podium, I went over to Spielberg. He got up, I put my arms ’round him, and I said, ‘This isn’t right, this should be yours.’
This heart-warming gesture by Attenborough and his humble acceptance of Spielberg’s talent was the spark that ignited a beautiful bond that lasted until the Gandhi director’s death in 2014.
How Steven Spielberg And Tom Cruise Reached A Truce
While being competitors led to Steven Spielberg and the late Richard Attenborough becoming friends, the director has also had his fare share of complicated relationships in the industry. His feud with Tom Cruise is a saga that dominated a lot of headlines in Hollywood. Despite creating the 2005 blockbuster War of the Worlds together, the actor-director rapport took a beating when Cruise’s controversial actions during the promotion of the film did not sit well with Spielberg.
While the Jurassic Park director focused on marketing his film, his lead star addressed everything else but his role in the movie. His infamous Oprah couch jump while speaking of his then-girlfriend Katie Holmes not only received critical reactions, but also did not amuse his director who accused Cruise of shirking his responsibility towards his film. Cruise’s comments on Brooke Shields following her open confession about her struggle with postpartum depression also made matters worse.
Time, they say, is the best healer, and 2 decades later, both celebrities decided to let bygones be bygones and buried the hatchet once and for all at the 2023 Oscar luncheon thanks to Top Gun: Maverick. According to Variety, Steven Spielberg had words of praise for Tom Cruise and his $1 billion dollar mega-blockbuster and stated that the actor was indeed Hollywood’s savior. The two celebrities exchanged warm hugs afterwards, raising excited speculations about a possible future collaboration following their 2005 blockbuster.
