‘ET Has 8 Assistants’: How Spielberg kept the magic alive for a young Drew Barrymore on set

Steven Spielberg has always been a father figure to Drew Barrymore, even though he refused when he asked him to be her real father during the filming of the 1982 classic, ET the Extra-Terrestrial. Then the actor was only 7 years old.

in a new portrait Drew Barrymore Posted by Vulture (via Variety ), the latter is truly praiseworthy Steven Spielberg whom she describes as “the only person in her life to date who has ever been a parental figure”. Her father, actor John Drew Barrymore, was a violent alcoholic. Spielberg, meanwhile, eventually became her godfather.

While filming and, Steven Spielberg Then he made it a priority to preserve the magic of young Drew as the main character. In other words, he thought ET was real and he wanted it to stay that way. A few weeks after filming, the girl noticed several men treating ET and demanded that they leave the set.

“I wasn’t going to burst the bubble– said Spielberg. “So I just said, “It’s okay, ET is so special, ET has eight assistants. I’m a director, I only have one.“

It also kept operators close by during breaks like lunch, so Drew Barrymore Can eat with his friend ET. As Vulture reports, she sometimes even stayed with the director on weekends, who treated her to a cat and took her to Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm.

Personal life turned out

At the same time, personal life Drew Barrymore was in the early stages of the spiral into which she had fallen due to her abusive father. He started using marijuana at the age of 10 and got cocaine two years later, the year he went to rehab. When he was 7 years old and he was filming andShe even came to the set wearing red lipstick, which Spielberg always asked her to wear.

“He stayed up long before going to bed, went to places where only he had to understand and lived a life, at a very tender age, which I think took away his childhood.– the film director told Vulture. “Still, I felt very helpless because I wasn’t her father. I could only be a sort of adviser to him.“

All’s well that ends well though Steven Spielberg and Drew Barrymore They are still very close today.

Rediscover the masterpiece that brought them together: ET, The Extra-Terrestrial is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.