“Is this Gandalf?”: Godzilla Director Had a Surreal Experience After Steven Spielberg Made Him Cry in Public
Godzilla is one of the most beloved monster movies of all time. Although the first-ever Godzilla movies by TriStar Pictures were heavily criticized due to the huge amount of deviation from the source material, the 2014 reboot of the franchise by Legendary Pictures was quite well-received. The reboot was directed by Gareth Edwards.
Gareth Edwards has made some of the best Hollywood movies over the years and is ready to make a comeback with the upcoming movie The Creator. He has named three of the most legendary directors, namely George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Quentin Tarantino as his inspiration, so naturally, when one of them praised his work on Godzilla, the director could not help feeling emotional.
Steven Spielberg’s Approval Moved Godzilla Director To Tears
Steven Spielberg does not need much of an introduction to begin with. From the sci-fi thriller Jurrasic Park to the Holocaust drama Schindler’s List, he has given the world some of the most iconic movies of all time. He is doubtlessly one of the best directors to ever live, so it is a given that his opinions matter a lot to his fellow directors.
Gareth Edwards laid the foundations of MonsterVerse with the 2014 movie Godzilla. In a recent interview on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, while talking about his upcoming movie The Creator, Edwards recalled the praise he received from Steven Spielberg.
Speaking on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, the Monsters director said:
“Peter Jackson was filming him on his phone, and basically, Spielberg had just watched Godzilla… Spielberg started speaking about Godzilla, and it was nice to hear it, and I just started crying. I literally just collapsed. I hardly ever cry, it just felt like that’s why I did it, all the pain of whatever it was, was just worth it for that little video clip. It meant the absolute world to me.”
Edwards cannot be blamed for his emotional reaction because receiving praise from someone as great as Steven Spielberg can truly pull a reaction out of anybody, let alone someone who considers him their inspiration.
Gareth Edwards Was Caught Off-guard
With its ensemble cast and great direction, Godzilla was one of the highest-grossing films of 2014 with a worldwide collection of $529 million. Such blockbusters often require publicity tours and that was what Gareth Edwards was doing when he found out Steven Spielberg’s thoughts on the movie.
Edwards revealed that he was absolutely exhausted by the publicity tour so he tried to celebrate the movie’s success with a party only to be bombed by more questions. This made him decide to pull the brakes on socializing altogether. On the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, the Rogue One director said:
“At about 2am or 3am, I look at my phone and there’s an email. I recognize the email address, it’s Peter Jackson’s email… and there’s a video attachment, I open up the video… and there’s a guy with sort of grey hair and a beard, and I’m thinking ‘Is this Gandalf?’, and I don’t know what’s going on, it’s really weird.
As soon as he played the video, Edwards figured out that the voice was none other than Steven Spielberg’s. He was delighted to find out that his hard work had finally paid off, thanks to the Jaws director.
Source: Happy, Sad, Confused podcast
