When it comes to household names, Steven Spielberg has been in our lives for a long, long time. He obviously first burst onto the scene with Jaws in the 1970s.
Then we had titles like ET and the Indiana Jones movies in the 1980s.
We had a packed 1990s with hits like Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, and Saving Private Ryan.
He also kept busy in the 2000s with Catch Me If You Can (my personal favorite), A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, The Terminal, Munich, War of the Worlds, oh, and another Indiana Jones movie.
And he certainly hasn’t slowed down in the 2010s and 2020s — his latest movie, Disclosure Day, just opened at No. 1 at the domestic box office.
Suffice to say, Spielberg has dabbled in a range of genres throughout his career. But one thing he’s remained staunchly committed to is that beard of his.
Now, let me be clear, that is not a criticism. He found a look that works for him, and he stuck with it! However, it has meant that his fans were recently stunned by images of him on The Dick Cavett Show in 1981, where he is — you guessed it — fully beardless.
Who is this clean-shaven individual?
With all the Disclosure Day chatter, screenshots from the old interview have been circulating online, and people are genuinely baffled by beardless Spielberg. (Seriously, I’m not sure I’d recognize him without being told who it was.)
The most recurring comment, however, is that he’s the “spitting image” of David Duchovny — and I totally see it. Maybe that explains the alien obsession?
Well, when the inevitable Spielberg biopic is looking for its star, they’ve got plenty of choice.