Sam Taylor-Johnson cringes at Cannes memory

Sam Taylor-Johnson was "shamed" by Steve McQueen when she acted too excited at Cannes.

The 47-year-old director first gained recognition with short Love You More, which debuted at the French film festival in 2008.

She was joined by fellow filmmaker Steve, who is behind movies such as Hunger and 12 Years a Slave, at the event. But while he kept his cool, Sam was too psyched to act nonchalant.

“Steve and I were both on the red carpet at Cannes,” she recalled to British newspaper The Independent.

“And I said to him, over-excitedly, ‘God, look at us! Isn’t this so ridiculously exciting!’ Steve just looked at me like I was some stupid schoolgirl. He shamed me with his look! He was definitely born to be a great director.”

Sam's latest project is the hotly anticipated Fifty Shades of Grey, which is based on E.L. James' erotic novel about a dominant businessman who enjoys S&M.

It was difficult to get off the ground, with Charlie Hunnam originally cast in the lead and eventually switched out for Jamie Dornan.

“Charlie and I were working really well together,” she explained. “But signing up for one film is very different from signing up for a trilogy.

"As the process got bigger, I started to sense his fear. On the day he called me to say that he just couldn’t do it, I knew it was coming, but it was very sad. But then, I truly believe Jamie was meant to be Christian Grey – so, things work out for a reason.”

Fifty Shades is due to hit cinemas this month, with fans all over the world looking forward to seeing Jamie and co-star Dakota Johnson acting out the steamy scenes. While Sam acknowledges the sexy film will get people "aroused" she adds she's seen them so often, they leave her fairly cold.