Drew Barrymore and Steven Spielberg shared heartfelt memories of working together on the 1982 classic E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial during a panel at the TCM Classic Film Festival on January 25. The two spoke candidly about how the film shaped both their lives.
For Barrymore, E.T. was a turning point. “I think E.T., for me, is the one I’m the most proud of because it’s the one that changed my life,” the 49-year-old actress shared. She added, "Everything in my life is about how I got believed in by one human being, and that is the life that I try to honor every day."
Spielberg, 78, echoed her sentiment, revealing how the film profoundly impacted his personal life. “Up until that point — ’81, ’82 — I was just making movies," he said. "That was my life. I was obsessed with telling stories, but making E.T. made me want to be a father for the first time. I never even thought about that until E.T.."
Barrymore humorously quipped, "I didn’t ruin that for you?" to which Spielberg responded, "The opposite." "Thank goodness, my job is done," she joked in return.
The pair also reflected on the enduring influence of E.T. in Spielberg's life. The director shared that he has watched the movie "probably more than any other movie I’ve ever directed" due to his role as a father. “I have seven kids and six grandkids,” Spielberg said, noting that he had shown E.T. to all of his children, and even some of his grandchildren. “Some of them are still too young... I want to let them know what to expect before they turn the corner and are surprised by something.”
Earlier, Spielberg discussed how E.T. was inspired by his own parents' divorce, recounting a 2022 interview during the film's 40th anniversary celebration. He explained that he transformed his feelings about divorce into a story about a family dealing with loss and responsibility. “What if Elliott… needed to, for the first time in his life, become responsible for a life form to fill the gap in his heart?”
Reflecting on how the film influenced his journey into parenthood, Spielberg shared, “I didn’t want to have kids because it was not a kind of equation that made sense for me as I was going from movie to movie to movie, script to script.” He added, "It never occurred to me until halfway through E.T.... I was a parent on that film, especially Drew, who was only 6 years old."
Spielberg’s experience on set ultimately shifted his perspective on fatherhood. “I started thinking, ‘Well, maybe this could be my real life someday.’ It was the first time that it occurred to me that maybe I could be a dad.”
Source: People Magazine