Steven Spielberg is like a horse whisperer, says Emily Watson

Emily Watson has likened Steven Spielberg to a horse whisperer.

The Oscar-nominated actress, who stars as Rose Narracott in the filmmaker's War Horse, admitted that she found the director's working methods strange at first because he likes to talk to actors during takes.


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Watson said at the War Horse press conference: "He's like a horse whisperer. He talks to you during a take. The first few days with Peter Mullan and David Thewlis, we were all a bit taken aback by it. We all come from a Mike Leigh, Ken Loach [background]. It's all very truthful and realistic, 'The performance is sacred'. [With Steven] you're in the middle of doing a scene and he's talking to you.

"After an hour or so I started to really enjoy it. Because the film is constructed in such an old-fashioned Hollywood way, every shot is beautifully designed and it lands. He knows exactly what he wants - he's planting little seeds in your head and little things sprout. It's like you're flowering under his watering can of ideas."

War Horse opens in UK cinemas on January 13.

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Watch Digital Spy speaking to stars on the red carpet at the War Horse premiere below: