Director Steven Spielberg beams after winning best picture and best director at the 80th Golden Globe Awards. Photo Reuters·Yonhap News
After actor Timothee Chalamet drew criticism recently with remarks that seemed to belittle the fine arts, the ‘maestro’ director Steven Spielberg delivered a barbed admonition.
On the 13th (local time) in Texas, USA, Steven Spielberg attended the ‘2026 South by Southwest (SXSW)’ festival and, while speaking about the value of the cinematic experience, made a significant remark.
He said, “When we watch a movie in a theater, we feel emotions that connect us as one. This kind of experience occurs not only with movies or concerts but, for the record, also with ballet and opera.”
Hollywood top star Timothee Chalamet, who visited Korea in 2024 to promote the film ‘Dune: Part 2′, answers questions from the press at a press conference held at the Conrad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Senior Reporter Jeong Ji-yoon
This stood in contrast to earlier comments by Timothee Chalamet, and the audience in attendance responded to Steven Spielberg with cheers and applause.
These latest remarks by Steven Spielberg were triggered by comments from Timothee Chalamet on the 21st of last month. At a CNN·Variety town hall event, while discussing the future of the film industry, he said, “I do not want to work in a field that people now no longer care about, where we say, like ballet or opera, ‘we have to keep this alive’.”
He immediately tried to pass it off as a joke, but the controversy grew as world-renowned institutions such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York (MET) and the Royal Opera House in the United Kingdom formally expressed displeasure.
As senior actors such as Whoopi Goldberg and Jamie Lee Curtis, and now even the maestro Spielberg, joined the criticism, Chalamet saw his standing shrink. Even at the Academy Awards scheduled for the 15th, the likelihood has increased that Michael B. Jordan of ‘Ssineoseu: Sinners’, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) award winner, will take best actor over Chalamet, who had been the favorite as the lead of ‘Mati Supreme’.
