Steven Spielberg may have been a grown man when he directed Jaws in 1974, but behind the camera, he often found himself seeking comfort in the familiar voice of his mother, Leah Adler, according to a people.com report.
In Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story, premiering July 10 on National Geographic and streaming the next day on Disney+ and Hulu, the legendary director opens up about the emotional toll and intense pressure he faced while filming the iconic thriller.
“I talked to my mum a lot,” Spielberg recalls in the documentary. “I mean, I was talking to my mom kinda like, ‘Mommy, this is really impossible, help!’”
The production of Jaws was infamous for its challenges — from malfunctioning mechanical sharks to ballooning budgets and delays — and Spielberg confesses that while he never wanted to quit, he lived in fear of being fired.
“At one point, Sid Sheinberg flew to Martha’s Vineyard to assess the damage and asked me, ‘What do you think we should do?’” Spielberg says. “I told him, ‘I want to finish this movie.’”
Support came not only from his mother but also from fellow filmmaker Martin Scorsese, who frequently visited the set. “He’d just sit there feeling sorry for me,” Spielberg recalls, laughing. “We would commiserate.”
Despite the hurdles — including harsh criticism from a Hollywood actor who told him he’d never work again — Spielberg pushed through. Reflecting on the experience 50 years later, he describes Jaws as “a life-altering experience… traumatizing, but something we all survived.”
“I just hope that everyone who worked on Jaws wears that experience proudly, like a badge of honor,” he says.
