Why Steven Spielberg started being nice to his crew

'She pulled me into her office and gave me the bollocking of my life'

(Steven Spielberg. Credit: Getty Images)

When discussing directors who are hard to their crew, most cinephiles would immediately bring up names such as Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick. They probably wouldn’t mention Steven Spielberg.

However, while promoting The Post, Spielberg revealed that he was an unashamed hothead who was impatient with crew members.

So, what changed? While working on ET, the prolific director apparently got the bollocking of a lifetime from producer Kathleen Kennedy after being impatient with the crew.

“Basically, I was a little bit of a hothead, impatient, and I would be hard on my crew — loving to my cast but tough on my crew,” Spielberg said while discussing women who have shifted his way of thinking.

“And about 15 days into shooting ET, she pulled me into her office and sat me down in a chair and gave me the bollocking of my life. Because she did not like the way I was talking to the crew. She didn't care for my impatience, she didn't care for my sharpness.

“She said, ‘This is unacceptable behavior,’ and I hadn't heard that since a teacher in school or my own mom — and that was a big shift in my life. I became mindful because somebody I trusted and respected had called me out.”

​Kristie Macosko Krieger, who co-produced The Post with Spielberg and Amy Pascal, also spoke highly of Kennedy, who now heads up LucasFilm.

“Kathy taught me how to work hard,” she said. “She was always the first person on set, the last person to leave. There was no job beneath her, no job above her.”

Meanwhile, The Post has quickly become an Oscars frontrunner after already winning awards. The film reaches UK cinemas 19 January 2018.