Steven Spielberg Says He Used to Sneak onto the JAWS Set at Universal Studios Tour and Cry
When you think of Jaws, you think of great freakin’ movie that made history and changed Holywood. The first summer blockbuster. The origin of the modern event film. But behind the legend is a story of stress, anxiety, and a young filmmaker nearly broken by the experience.
According to Steven Spielberg himself, he used to deal with that weight in a very unexpected place, quietly hiding out on the set of the Jaws Studio Tour ride at Universal Studios.
In the upcoming documentary Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story, which hits Hulu and Disney+ next month, Spielberg opens up about the lingering emotional toll the film left on him.
One moment in particular moment is when Universal shipped the original Orca boat from Martha’s Vineyard to the backlot for the Studio Tour attraction, Spielberg began making regular solo visits. Not for nostalgia or photo ops. But for healing. He said:
“When they brought one of the boats all the way back from Martha’s Vineyard and shipped the boat, the Orca, to the Universal backlot and put it in the water right next to the Jaws ride.
“I used to get on my electric cart, without telling anybody, and I would sneak behind the trams so nobody could see me and I’d just sneak on board the boat and I would sit in the cabin in that little leatherette booth and I would just sit there and sometimes cry.”
That might sound strange coming from the man whose film changed the industry forever. But Jaws was a grueling ordeal to make. Mechanical shark failures, an unforgiving shooting location, and an over-budget, over-schedule nightmare that had the young director fearing for his career. It left scars that didn’t fade easily. He added:
“I had nothing to cry about. The film was this 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.”
It's a very personal revelation, one that reframes how we view not just the making of Jaws, but Spielberg himself. He wasn’t basking in the glory of a hit. He was still emotionally tethered to a project that nearly broke him. For a time, the Orca wasn’t a prop or a set piece. It was a quiet place where he could process it all.
Unfortunately, the original Orca didn’t last forever. The elements eventually wore it down and it had to be removed from the backlot. A replica stands in its place today, but now, knowing what the original boat meant to Spielberg, it feels like that spot on the tour holds a different kind of history.
So next time you're on the Universal Studios Tram Tour, coasting past the fake shark and the docks of Amity Island, think about the filmmaker who used to quietly sit there, out of sight. Not as a legend, just as a guy trying to let go of something that never fully let go of him.