How F1 world champion Jackie Stewart helped Steven Spielberg capture an iconic scene
Undoubtedly the most iconic and publicly celebrated filmmaker of cinematic history, American director Steven Spielberg is known for his countless screen innovations, making magic with his extraordinary special effects and revolutionary ambition. Whilst the likes of Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve and the Russo brothers strive for the same level of quality, no one is yet to claim the director’s lofty crown.
The director has shown off his cinematic proficiency time and time again, from his inception into the industry in the 1970s through to his most recent release in the form of the celebrated remake of the musical West Side Story. Utilising dynamic cinematography with effervescent energy, the director has brought dinosaurs to life in Jurassic Park, re-created the terrors of D-Day in Saving Private Ryan and even attempted to take viewers into the pleasures of the digital world in the (admittedly flawed) adaptation of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One.
Further proof came back in the late 1980s, when Spielberg took to the extraordinary archaeological site of Petra, Jordan, to film the finale of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade with Hollywood star Harrison Ford. Initially refused access to the site of historical importance, the director was lent a helping hand by a very unlikely source, the F1 world champion Sir Jackie Stewart.
Meeting Spielberg at a shooting event in Gleneagles, Scotland, Stewart introduced himself to King Hussein of Jordan, who was also at the location and convinced him to let the director use the site. Granted permission to use the spot, filming took place in August 1988, with the cast and crew of the final film in the original Indiana Jones trilogy being welcomed as guests of the Jordanian royal family.
Stewart recalled the story in an online call for a series of videos back in 2020, where the driver and icon of the sport break down the strange coincidence.
Thinking back to who was present at the shooting weekend in Gleneagles, Stewart remembers, “Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg, Barry Gibb, Sean Connery, Rod Laver, Wayne Gretzky, Willie Carson, Kiri te Kanawa,” before adding, “When Steven Spielberg came along, he was surrounded by security, because he’s American…And, of course, with everybody else, and there was a lot of royal family people there, nobody recognised they had security, it was very discreet, but they were there”.
Getting into a conversation with the filmmaker, Spielberg suddenly became distracted, noticing the King of Jordan behind Stewart. “He said they’d been trying to get permission to go to Petra to do this film that he was doing with Sean and Harrison Ford, but they couldn’t get permission,” the F1 driver explained.
Claiming responsibility for the meet-up, Stewart recalls saying: “‘Maybe you should speak to his majesty?’ So I got them together. Bingo. He got his permission, so he was a very happy chappy”.
