Daughter of Legendary Director, 78, Says She Was ‘Frightened’ on His Set

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Daughter of Legendary Director, 78, Says She Was ‘Frightened’ on His Set originally appeared on Parade.

Legendary director Steven Spielberg's daughter, Destry Allyn Spielberg, is opening up about an experience she had while her father was shooting the 2001 film A.I. Artificial Intelligence.

In a June 27 People magazine interview, Destry shared she watched her father direct A.I. Artificial Intelligence, starring Haley Joel Osment as the A.I. android, David, when she was a child. The 28-year-old said she was disturbed by a realistic scene where David was having surgery.

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"I was there that day and it scared me, 'cause to me it was like someone actually cutting somebody open and seeing the inside of a robot. It looked so real, and I remember just being frightened by it," said Destry while speaking to People. "I remember that so clearly. And then anytime I ever watched anything with a friend where there was something similar, I would tell them, 'This is how that's made.' So that they wouldn't feel nervous about watching it or scared. I was fascinated by it."

During the interview with People, Destry, who directed the 2025 film Please Don't Feed the Children, shared she was grateful to have her father and mother actress Kate Capshaw as her parents. She clarified that she wasn't interested in being a director during her childhood. Instead, she had dreams of being an equestrian.

"I would say that a lot of the knowledge that I feel like I have around film is purely because I spent my entire life on a set. I was homeschooled a lot of the time, and it wasn't something I ever wanted to do," said Destry to the publication. "It truly wasn't even on my docket. I wanted to go to the Olympics. My career as an equestrian was plan A and there was no plan B."

Destry mentioned pivoting her career from being an equestrian to a director during a June 2025 interview with PIX11 News. She explained that she had to quit horseback riding because of "a career ending injury." After "a couple years" of not knowing what she should do, she decided to become an actress. However, Destry said she had difficulty booking roles.

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"So my friend and I made a short film, and we couldn't afford a director. And so I thought I'll just do it," said the director.

She also said directing "just came naturally" to her.

"I wonder why," quipped Destry in reference to her famous father.

Daughter of Legendary Director, 78, Says She Was ‘Frightened’ on His Set first appeared on Parade on Jun 27, 2025

This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 27, 2025, where it first appeared.