Barrymore details full-circle 'E.T.' moment with Spielberg

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Drew Barrymore details full-circle 'E.T.' moment with Steven Spielberg and her daughter

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 9/9/21

Drew Barrymore was roughly seven years old when she became Hollywood's most recognizable child star from her breakout role of Gertie in 1982's "E.T."

Barrymore's daughter, Frankie, turned seven in April.

Steven Spielberg, ever the director, saw an opportunity.

"We actually had dinner with Steven Spielberg the other night, who has been someone who is really kind of the first father figure I ever had and remained in my life as such," Barrymore said on Wednesday's "Jimmy Kimmel Live." "He calls me his first kid. He held Olive and Frankie when they were born. He's just in my life, and he's very important to me."

The 46-year-old actress and daytime talk show host continued: "We were sitting around the table, and we were having dinner, and Frankie is exactly my age when I did E.T. — actually, she's a few months older. Never mind. Doesn't matter. But he said, 'Frankie, I want you to say this line: Alligators in the sewers.' And she did. And then he looked at me, he was like, 'Yep, she's got it.' It was so surreal to me to have that circle-of-life moment. It was so trippy."

Barrymore added that she doesn't think of her two daughters as actors, though she will support them fully if they choose that route when they're older.

Before stumbling into the Spielberg anecdote, Barrymore had shared that Frankie and Olive have asked to watch her movies.

"I wanted it to be their choice, not me pushing it on them," she explained. "They love—they call them 'Mom Movies,' which is so sweet, and they love '50 First Dates' and 'Ever After.' But for some reason, they were just at the wrong ages for E.T. They weren't in. But I want to show them now and see if it was just an age thing or maybe they just don't like it."

"E.T." was directed and produced by Spielberg and also starred Henry Thomas as Elliott and Robert MacNaughton as Michael, Gertie's older brothers. The siblings discovered an alien, whom they named E.T., and kept his existence a secret until they could help him return to his home planet. The sci-fi classic won four Oscars.