There are some movies that define a generation, and then there are films that change cinema. Steven Spielberg‘s E.T.: The Extraterrestrial honestly accomplished both. The heartfelt story of a lonely boy Elliot Taylor befriending, loving and defending an alien who was left behind on Earth sparked a wild amount of joy in 1982 and beyond.
There are so many technical reasons the movie was groundbreaking, but what really took audiences was the emotional connections made in the film. The movie tackled not only incredible effects but tough emotional topics like loneliness, divorce, and family dynamics from a 10-year-old’s point of view. Part of that magic wasn’t just the prolific director, it was the actors and actresses involved, including Elliot’s movie mom Mary Taylor, Dee Wallace.
The ’80s legend recently revealed during the Infamous G.O.A.T.S podcast that during the iconic family dinner scene that addressed the father being in “Mexico with Sally” she was inspired to get up and leave the table despite it not being in the script.
“I felt all these tears coming up,” Wallace confessed. “And Mary thought, oh, I can’t let my kids see me cry and got up and left. Stephen cut and came over and said, Dee, why did you leave the table? That’s not in the script. I explained to him what happened. And he looked at me and he turned to the crew and said: ‘You’ve got 30 minutes, I need another wall in the kitchen here with a sink with running water’ so he could take me over to the sink and bring me into that big close-up where I say he ‘hates Mexico.'”
She claims it all happened because of mutual trust and respect from actor to director.
“I trusted Steven to allow Mary to do what Mary needed to do,” she continued. “And Steven picked up a moment from what happened there and expanded it. And that’s how you get magic on a set.”
Fans acknowledged just how special that scene made the movie.
“Moral of the story is: let great actors improvise,” said one fan.
“That’s a fantastic story, and I’m not a bit surprised. As a kid in the theater watching this film you could really feel how special it was,” said another.
“I remember when that scene happened that my mother got tears in her eyes,” added another fan.
The film was full of those magical moments on set.
Related: ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’ Star, 76, Is a True Icon in Rare Appearance 43 Years After the Film
Which Scenes From E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial Were Also Improvised?
One of the movie’s most beloved lines from the film was actually improvised by 6-year-old Drew Barrymore. According to Slash Film, when Spielberg appeared on Barrymore’s talk show for her 40th birthday, the director recalled that she came up with a lot of the lines in the movie. In the film when she meets E.T. for the first time she says “I don’t like his feet,” which was her genuine reaction to seeing the puppet animatronic for the first time.
“She said that during rehearsal, and I said, ‘Drew, can you remember to say that when the cameras are rolling?'” he recalled.
The story is made even sweeter as Barrymore confessed she thought E.T. was fully real during the time of filming.
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This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 24, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
