If Dee Wallace didn’t stand up to Steven Spielberg, E.T. could’ve wanted to do more than just go home.
In a recent appearance on the “Still Here Hollywood” podcast, Wallace, who played Elliot’s mother Mary in the immortal 1982 classic, said there was an axed side plot in the film for a romance between her character and the titular alien.
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“There’s a whole B story in ‘E.T.’ about E.T. having a love affair with Mary, a love crush on Mary,” she said. “And there’s little bits of it left in there.”
She continued, “There was a scene where he came in to put Reese’s Pieces down on my bedside table as I’m asleep. Well, Spielberg wanted the sheet a little lower than I was comfortable with.”
Wallce explained that she took her grievances up with Spielberg directly, arguing to maintain the family-friendly tone of the film.
“I argued my point that this was a family film,” she said. She went on to say that “E.T.” was “very pure” in her eyes, and felt that the film should reflect that.
Eventually, Wallace went to “E.T.” writer Melissa Mathison and producer Kathleen Kennedy to help find a solution for the scene.
“So we compromised and pulled the sheet up almost to my shoulder blades, which I was okay with,” Wallace recalled.
After “E.T.” was released in 1982, the film went on to win four Academy Awards for best sound, best original score, best visual effects and best sound effects editing.
After starring in “E.T.,” Wallace went on to appear in “Cujo,” “Critters,” “Popcorn,” “The Howling” and “The Twilight Zone.”
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