All was not rosy for the young Drew Barrymore on the set of “ET”, Steven Spielberg then made it his mission to preserve the magic of the film for the little girl.
Steven Spielberg has always been a father figure to Drew Barrymore even though he told her no when she asked him to be her real father during the filming of their 1982 classic, ET the Extra-Terrestrial. The actress was then only 7 years old.
In a new portrait of Drew Barrymore published by Vulture (via Variety), the latter indeed praises Steven Spielberg whom she describes as “the only person in her life to date who has ever been a parental figure”. Her own father, actor John Drew Barrymore, was a violent alcoholic. Spielberg, meanwhile, eventually became his godfather.
During the filming of AND, Steven Spielberg then made it a priority to preserve the magic of the main character for the young Drew. In other words, she thought ET was real and he wanted it to stay that way. A few weeks into filming, however, the girl noticed several men operating ET and demanded that they leave the set.
Universal Pictures
“I didn’t mean to burst the bubble”, said Spielberg. “So I just said, ‘It’s okay, ET is so special, ET has eight assistants. I’m the director, I only have one.”
It also kept operators close at hand during break times such as lunch so that Drew Barrymore can eat with his friend ET. As Vulture reports, she even sometimes stayed with the director on the weekends, who got her a cat and took her to Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm.
A PERSONAL LIFE TURNED UP
At the same time, the personal life of Drew Barrymore was in the early stages of the spiral into which she would sink due to her abusive father. She started using marijuana at age 10 and took cocaine two years later, the year she went to rehab. When she was 7 and filming ANDshe even came on set with red lipstick, something Spielberg always asked her to take off.
Universal Pictures
“She stayed up long after bedtime, went to places she should have only heard of and lived a life, at a very tender age, that I think robbed her of her childhood.”, the filmmaker told Vulture. “Yet, I felt very helpless because I was not his father. I could only be a sort of adviser to her.”
All ends well though Steven Spielberg And Drew Barrymore are still very close today.
Rediscover the masterpiece that brought them together: ET, the Extra-Terrestrial is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.