Summary

• Steven Spielberg influenced Twisters by having Anthony Ramos use his own dialect.
• Spielberg hand-picked the director for the original Twister and played a key role in casting Helen Hunt.
• Spielberg's enthusiasm for the script contributed to the sequel being green-lit.

Steven Spielberg stepped in to change one thing about Twisters, reveals star Anthony Ramos. A standalone sequel to the original Twister from 1996, the upcoming film follows an all-new team of storm chasers who find themselves in a fight for their lives as multiple systems converge over central Oklahoma. The Twisters cast is led by Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing) and Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick), though it also includes Anthony Ramos (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) as Javi, who invents a revolutionary method for tracking tornados.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly ahead of the Twisters release date, Ramos revealed he was originally going to use a Southern accent for the sequel, though Spielberg, who served as a producer on both movies, stepped in and told the actor to use his own dialect. Ramos was surprised, but excited since he had never heard anyone in a blockbuster movie, especially one set in the South, speak in his dialect, which he describes as "New York, Northeast" and "Latino." Read his full comments below:

I heard Steven [Spielberg] was like, "No, I want him to do it in his dialect." It was a little surprising to me, but it was really cool, to me, because I've never heard someone who speaks in my vernacular — especially this New York, Northeast, Latino dialect that I have — in a movie of this size, in a place like Oklahoma. It makes me feel it's possible for a kid from the hood to go to a school like OU, study meteorology, be this brilliant meteorologist and storm chaser. This is something that a kid like me could do. I thought that that was really cool.

Steven Spielberg's Influence On The Twister Movies Explained

Spielberg was initially attached to direct the original Twister himself, as were James Cameron, Tim Burton, and Robert Zemeckis – who all eventually passed on the project. Then, it was Spielberg who hand-selected Jan de Bont following the success of his directorial debut, Speed, in 1994. Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton and his wife Anne-Marie Martin would go on to write the script. Spielberg produced Twister through his company, Amblin Entertainment, and was also instrumental in casting Helen Hunt, who was originally hesitant, but changed her mind after meeting with Spielberg at the Amblin offices.

Just like the original movie, Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment produced Twisters, and he was instrumental in many aspects of the production. After he read the script for the sequel, which was written by The Revenant's Mark L. Smith, it was Spielberg's enthusiasm that contributed to Twisters being green-lit. Similar to the first film, Spielberg took a hands-off approach as a producer and allowed director Lee Isaac Chung to implement his vision, who is known for his intimate and heart-wrenching movie Minari, for which he received two Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay.

It's unclear why Spielberg stepped in to change something so specific about Twisters. Perhaps he wanted Ramos to bring more of himself to the sequel, or perhaps Spielberg, known for his attention to detail in character development and portrayal, wanted Javi to feel like "a kid from the hood" who studied meteorology and became a brilliant storm chaser. No matter, Ramos maintaining his own dialect should help this side of the character come through on screen with little exposition otherwise.

Twisters releases in theaters on July 19.

Source: EW