NEWSWEEK INTERVIEW: Steven Spielberg

NEWSWEEK INTERVIEW: Steven Spielberg

Says What Tom Cruise Did on 'Oprah' Was 'Exactly What Tom Did With Me When He First Told Me About Katie Holmes'

Regarding the Skepticism Surrounding Cruise and Holmes's Relationship: 'People Think That the People Who Make Movies Are Fake: Our Movies Aren't Real, and Our Private Lives Aren't Real.'

NEW YORK, June 19 /PRNewswire/ -- In an interview with Senior Writer Sean Smith, Steven Spielberg admits that he was bothered that Tom Cruise's "Oprah" appearance threatened to hijack the publicity for "War of the Worlds," Spielberg's new $135 million movie. "I was a little upset. I was a little upset -- not at Tom, but at the press for making such a big deal out of a kind of small thing. Tom lost his cool because he was deliriously happy, and now he was being punished for his public display of happiness. ...On set, when we do a good shot, and we're both happy, we do a little celebration. What Tom did on 'Oprah' was exactly what Tom did with me when he first told me about Katie Holmes. But the press didn't like the way Tom bared his soul to Oprah."

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050619/NYSU010 )

In the interview, which appears in the June 27 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, June 20), Spielberg denies that the media attention on the Cruise and Holmes relationship forced a change in the publicity campaign for "War of the Worlds." "People say, 'Oh, you didn't put Tom on the poster because of what happened.' No. The poster was designed in January, way before 'Oprah,' and my decision with all my films has been to use iconography on the posters. ...Tom was fine with that. It's the first time Tom has not been on a poster in his career, by the way."

Regarding the fact that many people think that Cruise and Holmes's relationship is fake, Spielberg tells Smith, "I think what that really says is that people think that the people who make movies are fake: our movies aren't real, and our private lives aren't real. It's all for publicity. I think it's more a commentary on Hollywood than a commentary on Katie and Tom. I really believe that."

Spielberg says that he was introduced to Cruise by David Geffen on the set of "Risky Business," and the pair became really good friends. "To me, Tom has always been like the most popular kid in school who goes out of his way to befriend the geek...me. [Laughs] He has a pure heart-that's been consistent about him ever since we met."

The interview also includes Spielberg's thoughts on potential upcoming technological advances in moviemaking. "What can't be done -- but will be possible within five to seven years -- is to create a fully digital human being that would interface with other human beings and would be undetectable. You will not be able to tell the actor from the digital actor. Now, that terrifies me. It crosses a moral boundary to me. ... Yes, that's an art form, and there's nothing wrong with that, but there's a point where you ask, are we [filmmakers] going to become recluses who want to make movies without human contact? Collaboration is what makes being a director an electrifying experience."

Spielberg has worked with the same production team for many years. "Growing up, my dad kept getting transferred from one electronics division to another. I would walk into a classroom -- this little Jewish geeky kid -- and everybody would turn and stare at me. I still have nightmares about it. So I think one of the reasons I keep my same team around me is so I don't have to walk onto a set someday and again be 'the new kid.'"

Spielberg tells Smith that "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" was the first movie that really scared him: "I was about 7 years old. I snuck out on a Saturday and went to the movie theater in Haddonfield, N.J. ...In the scene where Michael Landon turned into a werewolf -- the hair grew on his face and his teeth came out and he began to foam at the mouth -- that was the first time that I felt a fear on the verge of panic. I got up and left."

(Read the full Spielberg interview at http://www.newsweek.com/.)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8271977/site/newsweek/ - Spielberg interview

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8271974/site/newsweek/ - Smith's feature on "War of the Worlds"

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050619/NYSU010 AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/ AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN1 PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Source: Newsweek

CONTACT: Abigail Lorge of Newsweek, +1-212-445-4078

Web site: http://www.newsweek.msnbc.com/

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