Steven Spielberg thought he had ‘a heart attack' on harrowing Jaws set
Steven Spielberg once thought he was having a heart attack after suffering a 'full-blown panic attack' while filming Jaws.
The 78-year-old has been behind huge hits over his decades-long career, but shared that his efforts behind the camera for the 1975 shark thriller – which was released 50 years ago today – was among his toughest projects.
The legendary movie followed a star-studded cast led by Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw, as a team on the hunt for a terrifying great white shark after it attacked beachgoers.
The film grossed more than $475million worldwide, and has gone down as one of the biggest blockbusters of all time.
Detailing his experience on set in a new National Geographic special to celebrate the milestone anniversary, titled new Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story, the filmmaker shared that he battled nightmares for 'years' afterwards.
'When the film wrapped in Martha's Vineyard, I had a full-blown panic attack,' he told the cameras. 'I couldn't breathe, I thought I was having a heart attack. I couldn't get a full breath of air.
'I kept going to the bathroom and splashing water on my face. I was shaking. And I was out of it – I was completely out of it.'
Steven and co faced a number of issues during filming, including difficulties with the mechanical shark and going hugely over budget – which didn't help when Hollywood bosses kept a close eye on production.
At the same time, they had to ease simmering tensions between the cast while having to contend with shooting on water for large periods of time – with the filmmaker admitting that he reshot some moments in a crew member's LA pool.
Basically, an actual shark rocking up to shore sounds like it would have been the least of their problems…
Despite only having a few projects under his belt at that point, Steven explained that, as the director, he felt responsible for every single person on set.
'I think it was everything I had experienced on the island…,' he continued. '[I] at least tried to not only hold myself together, I had to hold the crew together.
'I had a great crew, and yet I felt responsible for everybody there. And I felt really responsible for keeping them there for as long as we had to stay. I think I just lost it.'
Although he had nothing to fear, as Jaws premiered to huge acclaim, broke box office records and won three Oscars, Steven still struggled to let his experience go.
In fact, he would sneak on board the Orca boat used in the film when it was eventually moved to the Universal tour, and sometimes 'sob'.
'I had a real tough time when I finished the movie,' he said. 'The success was fantastic but it didn't stop the nightmares, it didn't stop me waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, where the sheets would be soaking wet.
'We didn't have the words PTSD in those days, and I had consistent nightmares about directing Jaws for years afterwards.
'I was still on the movie and the film was never-ending.'
'I had nothing to cry about,' he added. 'The film was a phenomenon, and I'm sitting here shedding tears because I'm not able to divest myself of the experience.
'The boat helped me to begin to forget. That Orca was my therapeutic companion for several years after Jaws came out. More Trending
'Jaws was a life-altering experience. On the one hand, it was a traumatizing experience for me that was mostly about survival. And I think all of us feel we survived something.
'Jaws, also, I owe everything to.'
This article was first published on June 18.
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story premieres July 11 at 8pm on National Geographic, and streams the same day on Disney+
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