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Steven Spielberg regrets not directing this classic Tom Hanks movie

Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg has opened up about one particular Tom Hanks movie he regrets not taking the director's chair on.

Steven Spielberg

Whether you know it or not, you have definitely watched a Steven Spielberg movie at least once in your life. The legendary director is behind classics like the Jurrasic Park movies, Jaws, the Indiana Jones movies, Schindler’s List, and Hook, among others. Through-out his illustrious careers, one of his most consistent collaborators was with Tom Hanks, who starred in Spielberg pictures like Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, and most recently, The Post.

But as revealed in an interview with Time magazine, there is one Tom Hanks movie in particular that Spielberg regrets not collaborating with him on. “I have to say Philadelphia,” he admitted. “Because I knew Tom really well when he was making Philadelphia. Really well. And I was making Schindler’s List at the same time. So before we all took off for our movies, Tom cut all his hair off, so he brought his family over on the weekends to our beach house. And I’ve got videos of Tom with no hair with a baseball cap on. I knew the story, but hadn’t read the script.”

He continued: “I knew what audiences were about to see. For me, the proof in knowing someone very very well, and not knowing someone at all but knowing his character very well, is when I went to see Philadelphia and forgot that I even knew this man. And saw one of the most noble statements I had seen in film. It was a ground-breaking achievement in the social context, and the context of tolerance. And opening people’s minds to something they were very closed to in those days; an issue that was a clear and present danger to everyone.”

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Discussing the impact of the ‘90s movie, he added, “And it was really–that was one of the most shattering experiences I’ve had seeing a movie, when I knew the actor and then discovered that I didn’t know the character. The knowing of the actor didn’t knock down the fourth wall.”

If you want to get your teeth into more heartfelt and thought-provoking films like Saving Private Ryan, check out our guides to the best drama movies, best war movies, and best movies based on a true story.