With West Side Story now playing in theaters, I recently got to speak with director Steven Spielberg and Rachel Zegler (Maria) about making the fantastic remake. During the interview, they talked about what it really takes to make a movie on this scale, what it’s been like for Zegler going from playing the role on the stage in New Jersey to being in a massive Hollywood movie, how her friend McKenna Reynolds’ changed her life, and more. In addition, Spielberg reveals which of his films changed the most in the editing room and he also shares his advice for up-and-coming filmmakers.

Based on the critically acclaimed 1957 Broadway musical with music by the legendary Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, West Side Story first made its way to the big screen in 1961. Directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, with a screenplay by Ernest Lehman, the film went on to win 10 out of the 11 Oscars it was nominated for, including Best Picture and Best Director, and is considered to be one of the best movie musicals of all time.

As Matt wrote in his review, and everyone else said on Twitter, Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story is fantastic. He’s taken the story you know and added enough new flourishes to make this film more than a repaint of the original. In addition, the way he collaborated with Janusz Kaminski on the cinematography, Tony Kushner on the screenplay, and brought in so many talented actors to inhabit these classic roles, I don’t know anyone could walk out of the theater and not feel energized. West Side Story also stars Ansel Elgort, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist, Corey Stoll, Brian d'Arcy James, and Rita Moreno. Spielberg also produces alongside Kristie Macosko Krieger and Kevin McCollum.

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Watch what Steven Spielberg and Rachel Zegler had to say in the player above or you can read the transcript below.

COLLIDER: Mr. Spielberg, I wanted to ask you an individual question. Obviously, like everyone else, I'm a massive fan of your work. I'm curious, which of your films in the editing room ended up going through the most changes that you weren't expecting before the finished release?

STEVEN SPIELBERG: Oh, well, there's been a number of films that went through the most changes. I think probably Terminal with Tom Hanks and Stanley Tucci and Catherine Zeta-Jones. That film probably went through the most changes. I don't think I can ... It's a good question you ask. I've never been asked that question before.

RACHEL ZEGLER: It's a great question.

SPIELBERG: And the answer popped in mind because it's probably the only film I've made that had to go through so many iterations trying to find the basic, the velocity of the story, a velocity of the narrative. Can never quite find how to paste this picture and what to lose and what to add and what to cut down. So I probably worked on that film in editing more than any other film I've directed.

ZEGLER: Wow.

SPIELBERG: But it's a great question.

Thank you. Rachel, where do you go from that?

ZEGLER: I'm frazzled, too. I'm frazzled on your behalf. That's a great compliment to get.

I definitely will. Rachel, I cannot imagine what it's like for you playing this role on the stage in New Jersey to working with that man on your left. I'm very curious, have you thought about playing the lottery?

ZEGLER: It's really funny you should say that because I constantly refer to this as me winning the lottery.

SPIELBERG: Yeah, you do.

ZEGLER: It's just, it's absolutely ... I mean, obviously, with the involvement of Steven, but with the whole creative team that we got to work with. Jeanine Tesori is one of my heroes. I got to meet Steven Sondheim. Tony Kushner wrote the screenplay. Justin Peck was choreographing there. Paul Tazewell costumes, Adam Stockhausen sets. I mean, it had the best of the best, even down to our crew with Mitch Lillian and every…

SPIELBERG: Yeah.

ZEGLER: I got so lucky. This is your life.

SPIELBERG: She got a chance to meet my family, because most of these individuals that worked on West Side Story have done multiple films with me. So she got to step into our family, and she was greeted and became part of it and will always be part of it.

ZEGLER: Yeah. Thank you.

Rachel, I do have a follow up. I read that McKenna Reynolds was the one who gave you the heads up that they were casting and that she said, "Thank me when you're famous."

ZEGLER: Yes.

So I really want to know, what do you get-

ZEGLER: Have I thanked her?

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What do you get as a present to a friend like that, who literally has changed your life in a complete ... we're talking radically.

ZEGLER: I mean, it's truly, it's like whatever she wants. I always tell her, and she hasn't taken me up on any offer yet. McKenna's my friend who sent me the thing. Yeah, it was crazy. And so, she gets an advance notice of when things are going to drop. I'm just kind of like, hey, check Twitter at this time.

SPIELBERG: I should have put her in the end credits.

ZEGLER: She should be in the acknowledgements. It's really, she's fantastic. But I do tell her, "Is there someone you want to meet? Is there a fashion brand you really like that I can weasel my way into?" But honestly, she's just so wonderful and it's not lost on me how fantastic of a friend she is to think that about me. Then, when it came to fruition, she weeps openly every time something about West Side Story comes out.

SPIELBERG: How do you know all these details? This is amazing.

I'd like to think I'm decent at my job. I've been doing this a little while.

SPIELBERG: Larry Davis says, "Pretty good."

ZEGLER: Pretty good.

This was not what I was going to say, but Mr. Spielberg, if you ever have the time for a longer conversation, I have what we call questions and I promise I won't waste your time.

SPIELBERG: You know something? I am so compelled just for this little interview right here, that would be good for me to talk to you.

Trust me when I say I will bring my A game. For both of you, I don't think enough people realize what it really takes to make a movie. They all see the end product. They see how amazing it turns out, but they don't really know the time and energy that goes on behind the scenes and the pre-production, the post-production. What do you wish more people knew about movie making that maybe they just don't know?

SPIELBERG: I hope they never learn anything about movie making. I hope they never know. I hope they never see who's behind the curtain. I think if they don't want to be a filmmaker, so if they don't want to get into the business and they just want to be entertained or want to be transported somewhere else, it's best not to know too much because you don't want to knock down that proverbial fourth wall. You want to keep yourself safe and secure from any knowledge other than what the story is throwing back at you. But of course, there's a whole other subset of individuals who want to tell their stories, and they're telling them right now on their iPhones, and they're telling them right now on social media and on Twitter and on Instagram and on TikTok.

I have my eye out for them all the time because that is ... those are the individuals that should know what goes into preparing a script. The only piece of advice ... I know we have not a lot of time, but the only piece of advice I love to give is don't worry so much about technique and don't worry so much about where to put the camera or have a light. Worry about one thing or think about one thing, preoccupy yourself with, how do you tell a story that's really interesting, that you can get somebody not to walk out of the room right in the middle of your second act of your telling the story? How do you just tell a story that people lean into what you're saying and they don't lean back, they don't start looking around the room? Find a way first, a compelling way to express your art through your storytelling. Once you've got that, there's a lot of people in this world that will get around you and show you the ropes, but learning how to be a storyteller is the most important advice I can give you.

That's a fantastic answer. Rachel, if you want to say anything about movie making or you want to leave it there.

ZEGLER: Well, I mean, I don't know too much about movie making. I haven't made many, but I will say just the tireless effort of everybody involved is something I wish people just took into account a little bit more, is that for every 30 seconds you see on camera, there's about six days of work that goes into it. Dance at the Gym was six long days.

SPIELBERG: Seven days, yeah.

ZEGLER: Cool was a long time.

SPIELBERG: Long time.

ZEGLER: The Rumble was a long time. Even A Boy Like That was two whole days. One Hand, One Heart ended up taking two full days because we-

SPIELBERG: And live singing, it was all recorded live.

ZEGLER: Yeah, all live singing. So in the context, in regard to our film, a lot of work goes into not only movies, but this particular movie musical. It's a Herculean task, it was a Titanic type movie, so we really ... there's a lot of effort that goes into every little bit that you see.

West Side Story is now in theaters.