While several Hollywood celebrities responded to Timothee Chalamet’s viral opera and ballet commentary, Steven Spielberg didn’t shy away from expressing his opinion on the matter.
During a recent appearance on a March 13 panel at the 2026 SXSW Conference and Festival, the filmmaker spoke about the importance of going to the movies.
While having a conversation with the audience, Spielberg addressed Chalamet’s “nobody cares” comment about the opera.
The 79-year-old said, according to Variety, “At the end of a really good movie experience, we’re all united with a whole set of feelings that we walk into the daylight with, or into the night. And there’s nothing like that. It happens in movies and in concerts.”
“And that also happens in ballet and opera.”
Spielberg then added, “We want this to last. We want this to last forever.”
The filmmaker has joined the list of entertainment industry members who have dismissed the Marty Supreme actor’s controversial comment.
Last month, Chalamet joined his Interstellar costar Matthew McConaughey Variety and CNN town hall, and said during the chat, “I don’t want to work in ballet or opera, or you know, things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive,’ even though it seems like no one cares about this anymore.”
He later added, “All due respect to all the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewers. I was just taking pictures for no reason.”
