Steven Spielberg, the man who brought us both dinosaurs and terrifying sharks, is a Hollywood legend. He's also known for being, well, nice. A genuinely kind and brilliant presence in a town not always known for either. But even legends can get their wires crossed, as actor Josh O'Connor recently discovered.
O'Connor, who you might know from The Crown, was deep in the throes of filming Disclosure Day — a movie whose plot is still under more wraps than a mummy convention. He was wrestling with a particularly tough, emotional scene in his hotel room, and Spielberg, ever the mensch, was on hand to offer guidance.
After a bit of back-and-forth, O'Connor felt a little more settled. Then, late one night, his phone buzzed. The message: "The door is on the latch, just push."
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Start Your News DetoxNow, if you're an actor in an emotional scene, you might interpret this as profound artistic direction. O'Connor certainly did. He figured Spielberg was telling him his character's bottled-up emotions were like a door, just waiting for a gentle push to release. Deep stuff, right?
The next day on set, O'Connor, still basking in the glow of this unexpected wisdom, thanked Spielberg for the insightful text. Spielberg, however, looked less like a guru and more like someone who'd just been asked about their secret alien identity. He was utterly baffled.
Then it clicked. Spielberg burst out laughing. The text, he explained, was not a metaphor for emotional release. It was an actual instruction for his wife, telling her how to get into their hotel room. Because apparently that's where we are now. Hollywood directors sending cryptic messages about latches to their spouses.
The mix-up became an instant, running joke on set, which, if you think about it, is both impressive and slightly terrifying for O'Connor. Despite the accidental nature of the advice, O'Connor insists it still helped him crack the scene. Which just goes to show: sometimes, even a misplaced text about a door can unlock a performance.
