The Fabelmans: 10 Incredible Curiosities About Steven Spielberg’s Film
The Fabelmans is the latest film from acclaimed director Steven Spielberg, who has garnered some of the best reviews of his legendary career with this film. Many period films, released over the years, can be considered true love letters to the cinema, but The Fabelmans is different, in that it is semi-autobiographical; the characters are all based on Spielberg’s family and, of course, himself and his dream.
Being such a heartfelt project for the director, how the film came about is almost as interesting as the film itself. Between the script being finished with astonishing speed, being forgotten for decades, and David Lynch’s Cheeto obsession, there are far more trivia and stories in The Fabelmans than the public knows.
Here Are 10 Incredible Curiosities About Steven Spielberg’s Film
1. Steven Spielberg Had The Idea Back In 1999 Among The Behind-The-Scenes Curiosities
While The Fabelmans development time was relatively short and has had an incredibly rapid turnaround since Spielberg and Kushner started putting it on paper, the idea had been on Steven Spielberg’s mind for much longer. According to the New York Times, Spielberg had the idea way back in 1999.
In an interview 23 years ago with the New York Times, Spielberg worried: “My great fear is that my mother and father don’t like it and will think it’s an insult. I’m afraid they won’t share my loving, but critical, view of what it was like growing up with them”. It was probably a good thing Spielberg waited to make the film, as that 23-year gap includes some of the director’s best films and his legacy has grown exponentially since then. As a result, a film that celebrates his life and upbringing has far more impact now than it would have had in 1999.
2. Steven Spielberg’s parents were nagging him to make the film
While Spielberg was concerned that his parents would find the film insulting, the truth is that they were “bugging” him to make the film. According to People, the director’s parents wanted him to make the film before their deaths.
Spielberg explained, “They were nagging me, ‘When are you going to tell that story about our family, Steve? ‘ Actually, it made them very excited“. Both of Spielberg’s parents, unfortunately, died before the film entered development, which may be what encouraged Spielberg to finally make this intimate work.
3. Paul Dano Felt Pressure To Play Spielberg’s Father In The Fabelmans
Paul Dano plays Burt Fabelman, a character inspired by Spielberg’s father: such an important role received by the actor with a lot of pressure. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dano felt pressured to play the semi-real character the acclaimed director so admired.
The actor explained, “The stakes seemed high… You’re playing one of the most important, influential and complicated figures in Spielberg’s life. It was amazing to see how much of that was in his work all the time. However, Dano seems to enjoy the jitters, as his filmography is filled with roles that might be intimidating, such as playing opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in The Oil Man relatively early in his career. Also, just recently, he played the Riddler beautifully in The Batman, which is part of a franchise with a huge and difficult fan base.
4. Michelle Williams Was Cast After Seeing Blue Valentine
Michelle Williams is one of today’s greatest actresses. She has starred in tons of beloved movies and earned four Academy Award nominations. The reason Spielberg decided to cast her as Mitzi Schildkraut-Fabelman, her mother-inspired character, appears to have been her role in the emotionally draining 2010 film Blue Valentine.
Blue Valentine alternates between two stories: the film revolves around a couple hopelessly in love and follows those same couple years later, now with children, but completely unhappy. There are some parallels between the 2010 film and The Fabelmans, as both are about divorce and the effect parents have on their children. Most importantly, Williams’ performance is so raw and realistic, she earned him a 2011 Academy Award nomination.
5. Sammy Was The Hardest Role To Cast
Gabriel LaBelle plays Sammy in The Fabelmans, the character inspired by Spielberg himself when he was a child. Not surprisingly, then, the director thought Sammy was the most difficult role to play. According to Vulture, Spielberg auditioned 2,000 different actors to play the character.
The director explained: “I wasn’t looking for what I see in the mirror, I was looking for a young actor who could offer a story, with his being curious and honest, engaging and unpredictable. LaBelle did exactly that and beat out 2,000 other actors, but he too was initially unsuccessful, until he auditioned a second time three months after the first.
6. David Lynch Decided To Star In The Fabelmans After A Three-Week Stint
David Lynch is a unique filmmaker best known for his surreal thrillers like Mulholland Drive, and he also occasionally stars, though rarely. Lynch returned to acting in The Fablemans, where he plays iconic director John Ford. However, it should be noted that they had to convince him for a long time before he agreed to star in the film.
According to The Playlist, not only did it take Spielberg three weeks to get the elusive director to sign on, but he was also apparently aided by their mutual friend, Laura Dern, who called Lynch countless times to get him to take the role. Despite this, the most interesting thing is that Lynch only agreed to play John Ford on the condition that Cheetos donuts were always available on set.
7. Steven Spielberg Selected Most Of The Music For The Fabelmans Soundtrack
Most movies have music people, and there are also movie post-production experts who make most of the music choices. However, for The Fabelmans, outside of John Williams’ score, Spielberg himself selected much of the classical music featured in the film. Although it is not the first time that something like this has happened, so much so that some directors have even recorded the soundtrack of their films, directors who personally choose the music are rare.
Speaking of film scores, The Fabelmans also stands out for being the penultimate soundtrack by John Williams before his retirement (his last film will be Indiana Jones 5). This marks the end of a long working relationship with Spielberg, as the two have worked together on 29 films.
8. The Initial Title of The Fabelmans Was Supposed To Be I’ll Be Home
The initial title of the film that Spielberg had thought of in 1999 should have been I’ll Be Home, rather than The Fabelmans. It also seems that there was already a first draft of the screenplay, written by his sister, Anne Spielberg. Steven Spielberg’s sister also co-wrote the classic 1988 Tom Hanks comedy Big, which was whimsical, sentimental and endlessly funny, exactly what The Fabelmans were also praised for. We can therefore say that the film has at least maintained the same tone as the 90s project.
9. It Was A Pretty Quick Job For The Writer
While Spielberg is credited as a co-writer, the director worked with his longtime collaborator, screenwriter Tony Kushner. The Fabelmans mark their fourth collaboration following last year’s Munich, Lincoln and West Side Story. And according to Indie Wire, it was the easiest job of Kushner’s career.
The screenwriter talked about his day-to-day life while working on the script and revealed that it was essentially a part-time job. Kushner explained, “We wrote three days a week, four hours a day, and finished the script in two months: I’ve never finished a project so quickly. It was a blast. I loved it”.
10. The Set of The Fabelmans Was Especially Emotional
Given that it’s such a personal film for Spielberg and is so semi-autobiographical, it’s no surprise that there was so much emotion on set. Seth Rogen, who plays Benny Loewy, Sammy’s surrogate “uncle”, detailed how emotional he was and revealed that he saw Spielberg crying his eyes out during filming.
The actor added, “I was like, ‘Did this happen in real life?’ and the answer was ‘yes’ one hundred percent of the time. The movie will also make moviegoers cry, but it will mostly be tears of joy, not unlike any other Spielberg-directed film.
