All of us have those influential movie theater experiences that define who we are going forward, but I have to say, Christian Slater has a particularly good story on the subject. The actor, who has famously played some of the most Gen X movie characters over the years, told CinemaBlend that he actually witnessed Jaws on the big screen at the age of five. That’s right… five!
Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is well-noted for being thought of as one of the best of the best in filmmaking, with Quentin Tarantino once dubbing it the “greatest movie ever made” to our own podcast, ReelBlend. Here’s Christian Slater’s experience with the iconic shark flick:
My mother did take me to see Jaws when I was five, but I don't think she knew. She didn't know what the plot was or what the premise was. I don't know, maybe she thought it was like an animated movie. I haven't been in the ocean since. It's one of the greatest movies, I know. It's one of the greatest movies ever. Robert Shaw is fantastic. They were all great.
As Slater shared, he doesn’t think his mother really had any idea what they were about to witness with Jaws when she took her young son to the movie theater at the time. The actor spoke about the memory while we chatted with the actor about influential movies to him over the years. Here’s what else he said:
I mean, I've been working a long time and I guess that's one of the things I love about the business that I'm in is I always get to sort of immerse myself in somebody else's shoes. So that's kind of a fantastical thing to get the opportunity to do. And when I was growing up, I was born at a great time, Star Wars came out in 1977. I was seven or eight years old, and Indiana Jones and all these great movies that just kind of took my brain to, even that movie Flash Gordon. I wanted to be Flash Gordon. That was a goodie. So, I spent a lot of time in my own sort of imaginary world growing up. That was it, all those movies kind of inspired me.
Like so many kids who grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80s like Christian Slater, he got to witness a golden age of Steven Spielberg films! The actor spoke on the subject while promoting his latest role in The Spiderwick Chronicles, which is now streaming for free on The Roku Channel. The fantasy series geared toward kids is based on the book series of the same name and has Slater playing the villainous ogre Mulgarath.
The Spiderwick Chronicles series was originally produced by Disney+ before the streaming service decided not to move forward with it (after it had been filmed), and Roku ended up saving it for their platform. The series follows a trio of siblings who move into their ancestral home, only to find an invisible world of magical creatures inside and surrounding it. One has to wonder if one of Slater’s own roles will and has been one child’s early experience with storytelling as Jaws was his with the moviegoing experience!
Along with Slater’s leading role in The Spiderwick Chronicles, the actor is also part of Netflix’s Unfrosted, which is the story of how Pop-Tarts toaster pastries were invented. He stars in the movie alongside Jerry Seinfeld, Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer, James Marsden, Max Greenfield, Dan Levy, Hugh Grant and more. The movie will be available to stream with a Netflix subscription on May 3.
