It had to have been an extremely surreal experience for co-writer/director Steven Spielberg to make a film about his own life. With his latest Golden Globe winner The Fabelmans, the legendary director has crafted a semi-biographical portrait of how his childhood formed him into the person that he is. Casting actor Gabriel LaBelle as his fictional surrogate Sammy was a crucial move in telling that story, and in a clip from the movie’s home entertainment release, LaBelle’s on-set bonding with Spielberg is shown as another vital ingredient.
Freshly arriving on Digital HD, thanks to Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, The Fabelmans begins its journey to the homes of those who either missed it or find themselves wanting more. After its release as one of 2022’s fall movies, all viewers will be able to find excitement in the special features, which includes the featurette “Family Dynamics.”
While that segment focuses on the entire cast’s process of connecting with their real-life counterparts, the clip you see above focuses on Gabriel LaBelle’s process of getting into the mindset of protagonist Sammy Fableman. Which also includes this rundown from Steven Spielberg on just how bonding with Gabriel LaBelle helped inform The Fabelmans’ young lead:
He was doing his research. Not by me giving him videos and films, which he could easily see on YouTube, about myself. He wanted to find out what he could draw from his subject, and so I just answered all of his questions. And he controlled all the phone calls. Which I thought was really interesting, because I’m also kind of a control freak.
At that point, Spielberg had realized that his Fabelmans star was the perfect choice for the role. But equally dedicated to the responsibility of bringing “his subject” to life, Gabriel LaBelle’s approach to capturing Steven in Sammy saw the actor wanting to nail certain components in his performance. Much like Seth Rogen’s question fueled preparation,
Through his own statement in this special feature clip, LaBelle highlighted just how much free reign he had when it came to his The Fabelmans role. The young star mentioned those aspects as follows:
He was pretty clear that he didn’t want it to be mimicking him. The story speaks for itself. So he let me do a lot of it on my own. I mean, there are a few things that I wanted to grab. Just stuff like his posture, his smile, stuff like that.
The Fabelmans certainly did its job, as Steven Spielberg cried quite often during the making of his awards season darling. Thanks to the director’s ability to dig into his own past with co-writer Tony Kushner, and his collaboration with willing artists like Gabriel LaBelle, this semi-fictional portrait can stand alongside some of Spielberg’s best films.
The Fabelmans is currently available to rent or own on Digital HD, with the physical media release on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD hitting shelves on February 14th. While we don’t have a specific date on when Steven Spielberg’s latest will hit streaming, it’s a fair assumption that it’ll debut for those with a Peacock Subscription when it does.