For decades, the big rumor around “Poltergeist” is that credited director Tobe Hooper didn’t actually helm the film’s production. Instead, the story goes, Steven Spielberg ghost-directed the movie, and that’s why “Poltergeist” feels so much like an Amblin Productions film. Well, on the 40th anniversary of the movie’s release, stars Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams set the record straight.
READ MORE: New Claim Asserts Steven Spielberg Directed ‘Poltergeist’
In a Vanity Fair exclusive, Nelson and Williams spoke about the long-standing rumor and its validity. And while their answer confirms that Spielberg was an active presence on set, “Poltergeist” was still very much Tobe Hooper’s movie. “He was taking more of a hands-on approach,” Nelson said about Spielberg. “But it was always from a very creative collaboration. There was no tension on the set in that regard. It was determining how you were going to shoot things that had never been done before.” “It was so exciting to work on a movie that Spielberg was involved in, and he was very, very actively involved,” Williams added. “I mean, it was his story idea and he helped write it.”
So, in other words, Spielberg’s signature may be on the film, but ultimately “Poltergeist” isn’t a personal statement for him as a director. And Spielberg’s involvement in the movie was hands-on from the start. He initially wanted Stephen King to co-write the script for “Poltergeist,” but the horror author didn’t respond. So instead, Spielberg turned to Hooper, who had directed a TV miniseries based on King’s vampire novel. “Salem’s Lot.” Then, once Spielberg started production on “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,” he let Hooper take over “Poltergeist” as director.
But Spielberg was still a major presence on the “Poltergeist” set, overseeing the film as a producer, and Nelson and Williams suggest the film was very much a collaboration between him and Hooper. “I think, in his heart of hearts, [Spielberg] would’ve loved to have directed it,” Williams said. “He was always there. And Tobe was not as experienced as Steven was. He very much listened to Steven’s ideas about things, because it was Steven’s movie, really. And I’m sure there were times when it drove Tobe crazy to have Steven so actively involved, but he never let on. They were both kind of there on the set. Tobe would give direction, sometimes Steven would add to that or give other direction, but I think it’s fair to say that it was sort of a combo of the two of them, because certainly Steven was actively involved.”
So, while the rumor about Spielberg ghost-directing isn’t true, he still remained a big part of the film’s creative process. Perhaps the best way to describe Hooper and Spielberg’s collaboration on “Poltergeist” lies in Spielberg’s open letter to Hooper published in The Hollywood Reporter when the film hit theaters. Spielberg credited Hooper for his direction, and thanked him for his “openness” and the “unique, creative relationship” the two developed on set. And that creative relationship was highly successful; after all, “Poltergeist” still holds up four decades later.