Steven Spielberg has poked fun at Timothee Chalamet for his comments about ballet and opera.
The Marty Supreme actor has come under fire for suggesting that "no one cares" about the art forms but the legendary filmmaker has suggested that he wants them "to go on forever" as they are similar to movies.
Speaking about the importance of cinema at the SXSW festival in Texas, Spielberg said: "For me, the real experience comes when we can influence a community to congregate in a strange, dark place where all of us are strangers.
"At the end of a really good movie experience, we are all united with a whole bunch of feelings that we walk into the daylight with, or into the nighttime with. And there's nothing like that. It happens in movies, and in concerts. And it happens in ballet and and opera, by the way."
As the audience cheered, the Jaws director said: "And we want that to be sustained. We want that to go on forever."
Chalamet recently joked that both opera and ballet are dying out during a CNN town hall conversation with fellow actor Matthew McConaughey.
The 30-year-old star said: "I admire people (saying), 'Hey, we gotta keep movie theatres alive. We gotta keep this genre alive.'
"And another part of me feels like, if people want to see it - like Barbie, like Oppenheimer - they're going to go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it.
"I don't want to be working in ballet or opera where it's like, 'Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore' - all respect to the ballet and opera people out there."
The Dune's star comments were met with a backlash from the ballet and opera communities, with legendary Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli inviting the actor to one of his concerts so he can understand the appeal of the art form.
The 67-year-old tenor said in a statement to People: "I am convinced that a sensitive performer like Timothee, who understands the power of emotions, may one day discover that opera and dance draw from that very same source.
"Should he ever be curious, I would be happy to welcome him as a guest at one of my concerts.
"Sometimes it only takes a few minutes of hearing this music live to understand why, after centuries, it continues to be loved all over the world."
