These Interesting Facts About 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' Are Really Surprising
1) E.T. and King Kong were created by the same person.
2) The woman behind E.T.'s voice was discovered in a camera store.
Funny story: The film's sound designer overheard a woman in a camera store and knew she had just the right pitch. Her name was Pat Walsh, a Californian housewife who smoked a reported two packs of cigarettes a day, giving her voice that recognizable raspy tone.
3) Henry Thomas had Steven Spielberg in tears during his audition.
It can be tricky to cast the lead in any movie ?— especially when the actor carrying the film is a 10-year-old boy. In 2012, Henry told Today that during his audition, he was able to drum up some tears by thinking about his dog that just passed, noting, "I finished my scene, and they were in tears, and Steven says, 'Kid, you got the job.'"
4) Drew Barrymore got the part after auditioning for another movie.
While Steven Spielberg was in pre-production for E.T., he was also working on the 1982 horror classic, Poltergeist. Drew tested for the lead role of Carol Anne (which went to Heather O'Rourke). After the audition, Spielberg said Drew wasn't right for the horror movie, but he had another role for her.
5) The doctors you see in the movie are all real.
In order to capture authenticity, Steven Spielberg requested real doctors and nurses be used in the film. To ensure the dialogue was genuine, they were told to treat E.T. like they would a normal (ahem, human) patient.
6) A huge chunk of the film's budget went to designing E.T.
The film had a production budget of $10.5 million (roughly $30 million today) — and 10% went to alien creature puppets and related animatronics.
7) There were actors behind some of E.T.'s movements.
For the most part, E.T. came to life by way of a puppet, but the crew also crafted a version fit with animatronics. And in a few scenes, real actors (the late Pat Bilon and a then-11-year-old Matthew DeMeritt) donned a rubber E.T. costume.
8) Harrison Ford was cut from the film.
Harrison Ford, who previously collaborated with Steven Spielberg on Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, had a small role in the film as Elliott's school principal. However, his scene was left on the cutting room floor.
9) The sequel that never happened reveals E.T.'s name.
Not long after the first film came out, Steven Spielberg and writer Melissa Mathison wrote a nine-page treatment for a sequel titled E.T. 2: Nocturnal Fears. The follow-up saw Elliott and his friends get kidnapped by evil aliens, with E.T. returning to save them. The biggest bombshell in the script? E.T.'s name is Zrek.
10) The movie was shot in chronological order.
In an effort to capture authentic emotions from the young actors — especially at the end when they say goodbye to E.T. — Steven Spielberg filmed the movie in chronological order.
11) Drew Barrymore adlibbed one of her most memorable lines.
The first time Drew's character, Gertie, sees E.T., she says, "I don't like his feet." Steven Spielberg adored the line so much, which was 6-year-old Drew's genuine reaction to the puppet, he decided to keep it in the film.
12) The actor who played Elliott didn't like being famous.
After the film raked in blockbuster returns, its young lead, Henry Thomas, found himself an overnight star. Years later, the actor told The Mirror, "I was like a circus freak. But the only time I had to deal with it was when I left the house. So I stopped leaving the house. I became an 11-year-old hermit."
13) But he still went on to work in the business.
E.T. was the first major film Henry Thomas worked on — but not his last. You might recognize him from roles in Gangs of New York and The Haunting of Hill House.
14) The child actors didn't take home much money.
Henry Thomas revealed he received minimum wage to work on the project. However, he still gets residual checks!
15) Henry Thomas kept one major prop from the set.
It's typical for stars to take home a prop or two when a film wraps. Henry went with the iconic red sweater worn by his character, Elliott.
16) Drew Barrymore kept something too — and gave it to her daughter.
Even after all these years, the actress has managed to hold on to the red cowboy hat her character wears in the film. She now keeps it in her daughter's room as a sweet reminder.
17) An English rock star owns one of the bikes.
Musician Tom Meighan, frontman of the UK rock band Kasabian, shelled out nearly $12,000 to purchase one of the original bikes. Another major prop — one of the original E.T. animatronics — found a home on display in an Italian museum, with more of special effects artist Carlo Rambaldi's work.
18) The film originally had a different (and not as good!) title.
Imagine walking up to a movie theater and requesting one ticket for A Boy's Life. That's what moviegoers would have said if the title wasn't changed during production.
19) The actress who played Elliott's mom is a bona fide scream queen.
Actress Dee Wallace, who Steven Spielberg cast as Mary Taylor, has a long list of scary movies on her resume. She starred in horror classics, such as Cujo, Halloween and The Hills Have Eyes.
20) Corey Feldman was supposed to be in it.
When it came time to shoot, however, Steven Spielberg had a change of heart and pulled him out of the movie. Feeling bad for the last-minute switch up, the director got Cory a job on another one of his films, Gremlins, in 1984.
21) The film had Reese's flying off supermarket shelves.
In the film, Elliott persuades E.T. to follow him home by laying a trail of Reese's Pieces. According to Jack Dowd, the former VP for new business development at Hershey Chocolate, sales of Reese's tripled in the weeks following the movie's release.
22) 'E.T.' broke a record by staying in theaters for so long.
The movie was released on June 11, 1982 and remained in theaters for over a year — giving it one of the longest theatrical runs in cinema history.
23) The movie has also made a ton of money.
To date, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial has earned over $792 million worldwide. After its initial release, the movie beat out Star Wars to become the highest-grossing movie in history — a title which was held for 11 years, until Steven Spielberg beat his own record with Jurassic Park in 1993.
24) Drew Barrymore filmed in the 'E.T.' house 18 years later.
When the actress produced and starred in Charlie's Angels in 2000, she made sure to pay homage to her early acting days with a quick scene at the same Los Angeles house the Taylor family called home. In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, an E.T. movie poster can be spotted on the wall in the background.
25) Stunt BMX bike riders filmed that iconic chase scene.
Nope, Henry Thomas didn't do his own stunts. The scene used three professional riders who went uncredited. They worked for two weeks and had no idea just how important their roles would turn out to be.
26) Steven Spielberg didn't want the movie to be released on home video.
This was to avoid pirating and preserve the experience of seeing the film on the big screen. However, five years later in 1988, the studio released E.T. on videocassette — and it sold nearly 15 million copies in its first year.
27) It was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
While it didn't win that statue, E.T. did score four Oscar wins: Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Original Music. In total, the blockbuster collected nine Academy Award nominations.
28) You can still go on the amusement park ride created in 1990.
"E.T. Adventure" ran from 1990-2003 at Universal Studios Hollywood, but don't worry — it's still in operation at Universal Studios Orlando. It features original compositions by John Williams, and lets park-goers take a flying bike ride through E.T.'s home planet.
29) E.T. and Elliott reunited for a mini-sequel.
In 2019, Xfinity got approval from Steven Spielberg to revive the beloved alien for a short film sequel. The 4-minute ad, which premiered during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, also brought back actor Henry Thomas as Elliott, who in the story is now an adult with a family of his own.
Behind the scenes of this wildly successful movie is a list of unexpected facts that even the most die-hard fans might be surprised to learn.