“It was simply bad timing for all of us”: Steven Spielberg Vowed to Never Work With Julia Roberts After His $300M Movie That He Considers as a Failure
Steven Spielberg is one of the renowned filmmakers of the new Hollywood era who has given several blockbusters to the film industry. With his film debut in The Sugarland Express, he went on to give some refined classics like Jaws, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, and Saving Private Ryan among others.
Given the long list of commercially successful projects, he also directed the 1991 film, Hook starring Dustin Hoffman and Julia Roberts. Despite the film being a commercial success, it was still deemed a financial failure with another issue in hand involving the actress’ on-set behavior.
Steven Spielberg Addressed Julia Roberts’ Awful On-Set Behavior
Julia Roberts portrayed the role of Tinker Bell in Steven Spielberg‘s 1991 film, Hook which is about a grown-up Peter Pan (played by the late Robin Williams) returning to Neverland to save his children from Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman).
When the actress was filming the movie, rumors spread about her rude on-set behavior among production staff which gave her the infamous title, ‘Tinkerhell.’ When the director was asked about the reports during his appearance on 60 Minutes in 1992, he responded,
“It was an unfortunate time for us to work together, but I think that Julia’s a really, really good actress.”
When asked if he would want to work with her again, he shared, “This is a 60 Minutes question, isn’t it?” before adding, “No.”
Though his hesitation to defend his colleague was not taken lightly by Roberts who shared her disappointment later. However, she was going through some difficult times at that time.
Julia Roberts’s Personal Life Was Crumbling At The Time
While many just saw Roberts in a negative light during the entire fiasco, she was going through some hard times when she called off her engagement with actor, Kiefer Sutherland. She reportedly found that the latter was cheating on her with an exotic dancer. The incident happened days before her wedding thus she called off her marriage. It naturally took a toll on her emotional state which could have been why reports about her awful behavior began to surface.
She also expressed her disappointment hearing Spielberg’s comments. She revisited the rumors in a Vanity Fair interview stating,
“I saw that and my eyes popped out of my head. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that this person that I knew and trusted was actually hesitating to come to my defense. It was a hard lesson to learn. It was the first time that I felt I had a turncoat in my midst.”
While it’s unknown whether the duo has let go of the past or not, given that the actress was really hurt by his comments, she would have a hard time just shaking it off. However, she kept maintaining her point that she was never temperamental at the film set.
The Hook is available to stream on Prime Video.
Source: 60 Minutes
