Steven Spielberg is receiving countless calls and text messages this Thursday after Lincoln received 12 Academy Award nominations.

But one congratulatory message sticks out - the one from his wife, Kate Capshaw.

"She just said, 'I'm proud of you,' " says Spielberg. "And she said that in a way that melted my heart."

The director should be proud: Lincoln led the field with nominations for best director, picture, actor (Daniel Day-Lewis), supporting actress (Sally Field) and supporting actor (Tommy Lee Jones).

The number 12 is particularly significant for the project that took Spielberg more than a decade to bring to the screen.

"It's a nomination for every year we were on this road pre-Lincoln. It's 12 years from the time I began the project to Nov. 3 when it opened," says Spielberg. "The irony is it's a nomination for every year we worked to bring Lincoln back as a motion picture. It's breathtaking and astonishing.

"You can not believe the level of good cheer in the hallways of DreamWorks this morning."

Spielberg missed the nomination telecast ("I have carpool duty, I need all the sleep I can get") but received the early-morning call.

"It was a wonderful thing to have the phone ring this morning while it was still dark," he says. "It was one of the best calls I have ever received."

Even leading the pack in terms of nominations, Spielberg is not concerned about frontrunner status. "I don't strategize. I let others worry about that. I am just full of gratitude about what happened today and in the past weeks."

"My entire crew and cast came together and it was a perfect family to tell this story," he says. "They all need to be feeling that they are sharing in this wonderful day."

USA Today