“He looked at me like, This is an insane person.'”
The first interaction came while auditioning forBand of Brothers, the miniseries created by theSaving Private Ryandirector.
For the audition, we had to prepare three characters, Krumholtz tells EW.
David Krumholtz and Steven Spielberg.Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images; Jon Kopaloff/WireImage
Two of them I nailed.
I knew I could do them, and I was good.
But one of them, I just couldn’t do it.
It was a character that did impressions.
I just couldn’t do it.
And I was praying that they weren’t going to call me in for that character.
And I knew Spielberg would be there and that Tom Hanks would be there.
So I show up and there’s 50 actors, everyone fromRicky Schroederto D.B.
Sweeney,Henry Thomas, my dear friendKevin Corrigan,Donnie Wahlberg, and a bunch of others.
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images; Jon Kopaloff/WireImage
TheOppenheimeractor went with four other young actors for his first group audition.
This character was one of the characters I could do, and I was relieved, he remembers.
I had never met Steven Spielberg.
I know, I would know.
I’m not an idiot.
And of course they do.
So I’m told that I’m coming in next with four other guys, andthat’sthe character.
And I’m like, Oh my God, I’m nervous.
They think I’m nervous.
This is a nightmare.
Thats when disaster struck.
And he says to me, Good to see you.
And I say, Nice to meet you, Krumholtz remembers.
And he goes, Well, we’ve met before.
And I go, We’ve never met before.
And he goes, Yeah, we’ve met before.
And I said, Nope.
I would know if I’ve met Steven Spielberg.
And he just looks at me and he goes, We’ve met before.
And then walks away.
The awkward encounter sent Krumholtz into a spiral.
I’m a mess.
And we do the scene and I completely blow it.
I mean, I destroy it, he says.
It’s just an absolute disaster.
And I leave feeling like an idiot.
Krumholtz ultimately wasnt cast inBand of Brothers, but he had a chance to redeem himself in 2006.
That’s me, he recalls.
And there he is, Steven Spielberg, whos nominated forMunich.
And I kind of glance over to him and he and I meet eyes and he waves to me.
And I’m like, Oh, s—.
It was all going well until the duo parted ways.
And he goes, Hey, okay, I’m going to go talk to some other people.
And instead of saying Nice to see you, I said, Nice to meet you.
I said, Okay, well nice to meet y.
And I knew it in the moment, and he looked at me like I was insane.
Not that I was stupid.
He looked at me like, This is an insane person.
We’re doing this again.
This is the thing he does with me.
Krumholtz just pretends never to have met me.
That’s his thing.
Krumholtz hopes that seeing some of his recent work might change the filmmakers mind about him.
I’ve yet to meet up with Steven Spielberg again.
He did come see me at the premiere ofLeopoldstadt, the Broadway show I just did, he explains.
And I know he had a screening ofOppenheimer.
So he knows I exist.
He’s just a nervous, stupid person.
He’s not a crazy person.
But maybe I am crazy.
I don’t know.
Krumholtzs new indie dramedyLousy Carterhits theaters and on-demand platforms March 29.Watch the first trailer here.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
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