Drew Barrymore recently marked the 40th anniversary of the release of the movie E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial by getting back together with the cast of the movie, and a special Halloween episode of her talk show showed an emotional moment from the get-together.
The well-known actress, who is now 47 years old, became famous when she was only six and played Gertie in a movie that Steven Spielberg directed. The star was clearly emotional when she was joined by Henry Thomas, 51, who played her brother Elliott; Robert McNaughton, who played her oldest brother Michael; and Dee Wallace, 73, who played the children’s mother Mary.
In the movie, Elliott, who is 10 years old, befriends an alien whose friends leave him behind when they leave on their spaceship. Elliott helps the alien stay alive on Earth in the end.
Elliott meets the alien, who calls himself E.T., later on. Gertie and his older brother Michael went to see “Extra-Terrestrial.” Gertie comes up with the name ET for the alien.
Later, the kids and their mother, Mary, along with some of Elliott’s friends, help E.T. avoid being caught by the government and get back home. Because of this, the movie made the most money of any movie ever, and it kept that record for 11 years.
Drew said that she “thought E.T. was real” while the group was talking about the emotional times they had while making the movie.
She said: ‘I really loved him in such a profound way. Is it like true that, what would happen, because I would go and take lunch to him.’
Henry added: ‘The first thing I remember is that we were on stage and it was quite cold on the stage and you asked the wardrobe lady if you could have a scarf for E.T.’s neck because he was gonna get cold, so you wrapped the scarf around his neck. But Dee has a great story.
Dee told Drew that Steven Spielberg, moved by her love for E.T., made it so she could always talk to him.
She said: ‘We found you over there just talking away to E.T. and so we let Steven know and so Steven from that time on appointed two guys to keep E.T. alive so whenever you came over to talk to him he could react to you.’
After that, the actors talked about whether or not there should be a second movie, but they quickly decided not to make one.
Henry said: ‘I mean they talked about it in the early eighties because it was such a success and I think Universal wanted the sequel, but I think it’s hard to think about a sequel with Melissa Mathison who passed away recently, it’s hard to think about a sequel without a script from her because she was really the heart and soul of it.
Dee added: ‘It’s a classic, leave it a classic.’
Drew added: ‘I feel like I remember, and Steven will correct me if I’m wrong…I remember him saying, and I remember the word, he said, “I’ll never make a sequel to E.T.” and in that moment I thought, “Oh that’s a bummer because that doesn’t bring us all back together again for another round”, but I also understood and respected and completely knew that it was all about preservation of integrity for him.
Drew put out a series of behind-the-scenes photos in June to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the movie. There were some cute pictures of her with director Steven Spielberg.
‘Behind The Scenes of E.T. Happy 40th Anniversary❤️,’ Drew wrote in the caption of her Instagram post.
In one photo, the Golden Globe winner is seen giving Steven a big smile while giving him a bear hug.
On set, the two were seen taking a break together while the younger Drew sat on the lap of the three-time Oscar winner.
In a different picture, the director of Schindler’s List is seen wearing a hard hat and carrying Drew on his shoulders.
In one of the photos Drew posted, she can be seen posing with Henry, Robert, and Steven, as well as the E.T. The voice of Pup was done by Pat Welsh. Even though the kids and E.T. Steven, who was amazed, pointed to the sky and looked up.
In another photo she posted online, the blended performer showed herself touching E.T.’s cheek.
She took a picture of a still from the famous scene in which Elliott rides his bike with E.T. through the air. Drew put a picture of the movie’s title written in blue on a black background at the end of her post.
When it came out to the public for the first time on June 11, 1982, E.T. quickly became the most profitable movie at the box office and stayed there for the next eleven years.
The movie was up for nine Academy Awards, and it won four of them, including Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects.
In April, on an episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, Drew and her 73-year-old on-screen mother, Dee, got back together. They talked about what it was like to work on the movie and then acted out one of the most memorable scenes, in which Dee is seen holding a younger version of Drew.
In an interview with People magazine that was done before the 40th anniversary of the movie, Drew talked about how close she was to Steven in an interview. She also said she planned to celebrate the event with the director and her two daughters, Frankie, 7, and Olive, 9.
‘I’ve actually been speaking with Steven Spielberg about it,’ she said. ‘He calls my girls who he held when they were babies, and he’s known them throughout their lives.
‘I do want to revel in this moment with them and include them and celebrate with Steven. He’s a big father figure to me.’
In an interview with People, Drew mentioned that Spielberg pointed out to her daughters are about the same age as she was when she was in “E.T.”
‘So he’s like, ‘We’re not missing this moment with your kids,’ Drew said ‘I’m like, ‘Okay. You’re right. We can’t. You’re right.’
She added, ‘This is very emotional and full circle. My kids are very close to the age that I was when E.T. came out. Frankie actually is at the age. She is seven, and she will just be turning eight, and Olive is nine. She’ll be turning ten. This is where I’m at, and they love Steven.’
Drew has never kept quiet about how important her friendship with Steven is. She says that Steven was the driving force behind the start of her career.
She said that in September 2021, when she was a guest on Dax Shepherd’s Armchair Podcast. ‘I got lucky.
She continued, ‘He single-handedly changed my life. He was also someone who I didn’t realize until I was older was also very fatherly.
‘He calls me his first kid. He was appalled by me wearing red lipstick or when I did Playboy. He sent me a note, “Cover up!”
