“E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” Actors Reunite After Decades, and We Want to “Phone Home”

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Steven Spielberg’s work of art, premiered 40 years ago. It made waves at the time, being the highest-grossing film in 1982, and it has remained a classic. The story of a group of kids secretly bonding with the alien-like creature and their journey to get it back home showed us how innocent and pure love can be.

The cast of the movie has recently gotten together after almost half a century, and they reminisced and even shared never-before-told secrets about their experience. Let’s take a look together at what the actors have been up to.

Drew Barrymore

While she has been acting in movies since she was a baby, Drew Barrymore’s breakthrough role was in E.T. when she was just 7 years old. She’s always been under the spotlight, and since then, her career has only flourished. Host of The Drew Barrymore Show, the actress invited her former co-stars, Henry Thomas, Robert MacNaughton, and Dee Wallace to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the movie’s premiere.

Henry Thomas

Henry Thomas hasn’t stopped doing what he loves, being on the silver screen, and today he’s a father of 3. The actor dove deep into the thriller scene, and his roles in The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor are his top 2 roles on IMDb, which earned rave reviews.

Robert MacNaughton

Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Bianca Hunter

Best known for his role as Elliott’s older brother, Michael, in the classic film, the actor has primarily worked in theatre and TV. He is now retired and happily married to Bianca Hunter, who also shares his love for cinema, as she’s an actress too. Moreover, MacNaughton shared that Barrymore was actually their matchmaker back when they were younger.

Dee Wallace

Former ballerina soloist Dee Wallace started her on-screen career in the 1970s. Half a century later, she has an impressive 272 IMDb credits to her name. Happily married since the ’90s, she has one daughter — author, actress, and director, Gabrielle Stone.

Little-known secrets about E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

• Drew Barrymore shared that during filming, she really believed E.T. was real, saying, “I really, really loved him, in such a profound way. I would go and bring him lunch.” Henry Thomas confirmed this, saying that Barrymore once asked the staff to bring a scarf for E.T. because “he was cold.”
• Dee Wallace added that they’d often find Barrymore talking to E.T. and they let Spielberg, the director know. He later appointed 2 guys to keep E.T. “alive,” so whenever Barrymore would come and talk to him, he could react to her and keep the magic alive for the little girl.
• All the scenes in the movie were shot in chronological order, which is unusual in the industry. The reason behind it was so that the kids could form a real bond with E.T. — in fact, they never saw the E.T. costume without an actor inside it. In the scene where the children had to say goodbye to the alien, their heartbreak was real as can be.

When did you watch E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for the very first time? If you could teleport into the universe of one movie, which would you choose and why?