Drew Barrymore says she thought E.T. was real as a 7-year-old on set: ‘Loved him in a profound way’
Dee Wallace, who played Barrymore's mom in the movie, said director Steven Spielberg appointed crew members to keep the alien 'alive' on set for the young actress
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Drew Barrymore said this week that when she was a 7-year-old actress on "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" she thought the big-eyed alien was alive.
"Now I believed E.T. was real," the 47-year-old confessed on her talk show in a preview of her 40-year reunion with the cast.
"I really loved him in such a profound way … I would go and take lunch to him," she said, asking the cast what they remembered about her interactions with the animatronic alien.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Henry Thomas, 51, the lead and Barrymore’s older brother in the 1982 film, said that one day when it was cold on set, she asked the wardrobe woman if she could give E.T. a scarf "because he was gonna get cold, so you wrapped the scarf around his neck."
Drew Barrymore visits SiriusXM's 'The Howard Stern Show' at SiriusXM Studios on October 24, 2022 in New York City. (Noam Galai/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
Dee Wallace, 73, who played Barrymore’s mom, explained to her, "We found you over there just talking away to E.T. and so we let [director] Steven [Spielberg] know. 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."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Barrymore reacted in happy shock at the consideration for her feelings along with the show's audience.
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Drew Barrymore's first major role came when she was Steven Spielberg's "E.T." ( Ron Burton/Mirrorpix/Getty Images)
The beloved coming-of-age film follows 10-year-old Elliott (Thomas) after he finds E.T. outside his house and hides him in his home, attempting to keep the alien safe from government officials wanting to study him.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}During the reunion, Thomas said doing a decades-later sequel without late screenwriter Melissa Mathison would be difficult to imagine, calling her the "heart and soul" of the film. Mathison died in 2015.
"It’s a classic, leave it a classic," Wallace agreed.
ET looking out window with Henry Thomas in a scene from the film 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial', 1982. (Photo by Universal/Getty Image)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Barrymore added she once heard Spielberg say he’d never do a sequel to "E.T." as he has with others like "Jurassic Park" and "Indiana Jones."
"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," Barrymore said.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Robert MacNaughton, 55, who played Thomas and Barrymore's older brother in the film, was also part of the reunion, which will air in full on Monday’s Halloween episode of "The Drew Barrymore Show."