Steven Spielberg was 'scared' reading The Post script

Steven Spielberg knew he had to make The Post because he was "scared" when he read the screenplay.

The Jurassic Park moviemaker read the script about the journalism drama, about the release of the Pentagon Papers by The Washington Post and The New York Times in the 1970s, while he was still working on the post-production of effects-heavy movie Ready Player One.

He approached Liz Hannah's screenplay without thinking he would commit to direct something else with a project already on the go, but realised he had to because it "scared" him.

"My first reaction (reading it) was I got scared - which is good for me because fear is my fuel," he told The Hollywood Reporter magazine. "The more frightened I become of something, the more I have to work through it. This was a topic that was scaring everybody I know on my side of the (political) side - and quite rightly."

He also knew that it had to be made right away, because the '70s-based piece had so many similarities to the state of relationship between the press and the U.S. government today.

"When I finished Liz's script, I thought this was an idea that felt more like 2017 than 1971," he continued. "I couldn't believe the similarities between today and what happened with the Nixon administration against their avowed enemies The New York Times and The Washington Post. I realised this was the only year to make this film."

Producer Kristie Macosko Krieger, his frequent collaborator, added: "He said, 'If I can't make it this year, I'm not making it.'"

Spielberg received a Best Director Golden Globe nomination earlier this week (beg11Dec17) for the movie, which was nominated for Best Motion Picture- Drama. Its lead actors Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks were also recognised for their portrayals of newspaper publisher Katharine Graham and Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee respectively.