Steven Spielberg said he “truly regrets” the “decimation of the shark population” following the success of his 1975 film Jaws.
The Oscar-winning thriller tells the story of a man-eating great white shark that attacks a US seaside town, which prompted a rise in sports fishing across America.
Spielberg, 75, is known for Hollywood blockbusters including ET, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park and Jaws, made his confession on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs.
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Asked by host Lauren Laverne how he felt about having real sharks circling his desert island, he said: “That’s one of the things I still fear.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“Not to get eaten by a shark, but that sharks are somehow mad at me for the feeding frenzy of crazy sports fishermen that happened after 1975.”
He added: “I truly and to this day regret the decimation of the shark population because of the book and the film. I really, truly regret that.”
Spielberg’s latest film The Fabelmans tells the mostly true story of his own childhood and introduction to filmmaking in post-war America.
The film, starring Paul Dano and Michelle Williams, has already received wide critical acclaim, picking up top nods at both the 2023 Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards.
(Image: Corbis via Getty Images)
Discussing the making of the film, Spielberg admitted he had initially thought the project would be the “most self indulgent thing I’ve ever asked people to accompany me through”.
Describing it as “40 million dollars of therapy”, he said: “I didn’t know really what I was doing, except I was answering a need I had.
“Being an orphan, or recently orphaned by the loss of both parents, to recapture some of those memories in some way that wouldn’t seem too indulgent to actors I really respected.
“So it was a tight rope for a while.”
(Image: Hulton Archive)
Asked by Laverne if he had become emotional while filming, he replied: “Yes, I did. I did. Oh, my God, I did.
“Probably the biggest struggle I had making the film was not to get emotional. But there were times where it just it was out of my control.”
He said that the project had sent his fear levels “through the roof”.
“I’m a private person that’s going public about and I can’t hide behind somebody else’s authorship or a book or a genre or American history,” he said.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“I can’t get into any of those really convenient bomb shelters and be just stuck with myself, right here talking to you.”
Spielberg added it was “absolutely right” to see him as a “sentimental and nostalgic” person.
He added: “I think nostalgia even more than sentimentality, but I never bristle when I hear that at all unless somebody says it ruined the movie for them…I don’t like that.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
