It’s fair to say Steven Spielberg and Julia Roberts didn’t see eye-to-eye when making 1991 fantasy-adventure Hook. Their relationship was allegedly strained throughout production with rumours that Roberts was difficult to work with causing some on the film to refer to her character of Tinkerbell as “TinkerHell”.
Both have discussed their time making Hook in the years since it came out and neither recalls many happy thoughts. That might have more to do with the fact both were suffering from personal strife at the time. Spielberg has said his lack of confidence in the script was causing him concern, while Roberts was going through a bitter break-up with actor Keifer Sutherland.
In a true story that mimics the intrusion of privacy depicted in Roberts’ box office smash hit Notting Hill, her relationship with Sutherland began to teeter on the edge after a tabloid news story revealed he had spent the night with a young dancer. Roberts called off the wedding just days before it was due to take place.
Speaking about his time working with Roberts, Spielberg recalled it was an “unfortunate time” which could perhaps excuse her behaviour. “Julia probably went through the most trying times of her life [during filming]. And it was simply bad timing for all of us that she happened to start on Hook at that low point,” he said. However, despite playing down their feud, he remains adamant he won’t work with her again.
“Julia is a really, really good actress,” he said in an interview with 60 Minutes before answering the question – “Would he work with her again?” – with a simple, “No.”
Rumours from the set say Roberts would spend hours shut away in her trailer and be late for shooting her scenes. Her alleged actions caused Spielberg to consider having her replaced. However, Roberts recalls her time working on Hook very differently, saying she was often left to wait in her trailer, some times for hours at a time, before being called to set.
“I mean, if I sit in my trailer for six hours doing nothing, I’m going to say: ‘What the f**k is going on?’”, she said. Roberts also acknowledged Spielberg’s remarks in an interview with Vanity Fair saying it was both “difficult” to shoot a movie while going through her private troubles and to hear Spielberg was unhappy with her. In an interview with Barbara Walters, the actress said the accusation she misbehaved on set is wrong.
