IT’S been 40 years since E.T. crash landed on the silver screen and won the heart of viewers who felt the Steven Spielberg classic was out of this world.
The 1982 sci-fi blockbuster followed the tale of a young boy called Elliott, played by Henry Thomas, who befriends an alien abandoned on earth.
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Along with his friends – and tag-a-long little sister Gertie – the kids try to help the otherworldly visitor return home, but are intercepted by meddling government scientists.
The film is widely regarded to have launched the career of Drew Barrymore, who starred as the adorable Gertie.
Almost half a century later, here we take a look at where the stars of the sci-fi blockbuster are now.
Henry Thomas
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Henry Thomas, now 50, achieved his acting break as Elliott when he was just 10 years old.
But he’s since admitted he was not well prepared for the fame that the leading role would bring, and claimed it put a strain on his relationship with his parents and peers.
When he returned to his old school, he was badly bullied and even had his head shoved down a toilet.
He told the Daily Mail: “It was very hard, especially for my mum who was very earthy and grounded and who liked her plants and her animals.”
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Henry added that his mum later “became critical” and would question why he wasn’t featured prominently on subsequent film posters even when he only had a supporting role.
He said: “It was conflicting. But by the time I was 17 I had frozen them out and I said, ‘I’m going to do it and I don’t need your help and you’re just holding me back’.”
Henry moved to New York at 17 and worked as a jobbing actor, landing roles in films Legends of the Fall and Gangs of New York, as well as TV shows like CSI and The Mentalist.
In 2019 he was arrested for drink-driving when he was found passed out at the wheel after police received a tip from another driver.
The American star has since turned his life around and continued on to have a sparkling acting career and can often be seen collaborating with horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan in movies like Oujia: Origin of Evil, Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep as well as the hit Netflix horror series The Haunting of Hill House and the Haunting of Bly Manor.
Thomas also recently starred in Midnight Mass which was yet another horror hit for the streaming giant.
Henry married fellow actress Marie Zielcke, with whom he shares a daughter, in 2004, but they divorced three years later. He has two other children with his current wife Annalee Fery.
Drew Barrymore
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Recently, Drew‘s ex-husband Will Kopelman shared a snap of their daughter Frankie – and fans all said she looked the spit of her mum when she played Gertie in ET.
California native Drew has more than 50 film credits to her name, including 50 First Dates, Never Been Kissed, Charlie’s Angels and Scream.
But being a child star came with its issues for the the mum-of-two, now 47.
Drew revealed in her 2015 tell-all book Wildflower how she battled alcohol addiction from the age of 11, and was hospitalised aged 13 after becoming hooked on marijuana and cocaine, which got her blacklisted (temporarily) from Hollywood.
At 14, spiralling Drew tried to take her own life – prompting another stay in rehab.
Around the same time she legally divorced her mum – who took her to New York’s infamous Studio 54 club, where Drew encountered drugs and danced with young stars at just 14. Her dad John was an alcoholic.
Eventually, aged 17, Drew landed a role in the film Poison Ivy, followed by Bad Girls two years later, and she set up her own production company in 1995.
At 17 she posed nude with her then-fiance, actor Jamie Walters, for Interview magazine. After she appeared naked on the cover of Playboy in 1995, her godfather Steven Spielberg sent her a note telling her to “cover yourself up”.
Drew was twice married – and divorced – by her mid 20s. Despite being married three times in total, Drew revealed in 2003 that she has always considered herself bisexual.
Drew, who now has her own talk show, recently revealed she’s given up alcohol.
Robert MacNaughton
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Robert MacNaughton took on the role of Elliot and Gertie’s older brother Michael in Spielberg’s sci-fi film.
The actor won a Young Artist Award for Best Young Supporting Actor for his role in the 1982 movie.
The 55-year-old retired from acting in 2002, but returned in 2013 to perform in films Frankenstein vs. The Mummy and Laugh Killer Laugh.
In his break from performing he worked for the US Postal Service in Arizona and New Jersey. He now lives in New York.
He married fellow actor Bianca Hunter, star of 2010 The Fighter, and they share a son and three stepsons.
On his Instagram page, Robert often shares snaps of E.T. cast reunions.
Dee Wallace
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Dee, now 73, played single mum-of-three Mary Taylor in the Oscar winning cult classic and has continued her acting career well into her later years, with dozens of small and big screen roles.
She’s appeared in several horror films including Stephen King’s Cujo, The Hills Have Eyes and Critters, leading her to be dubbed “scream queen”.
She also works as a public speaker and self-help author, has her own call-in radio show and has delivered a TED talk.
Dee was briefly married to Barry Wallace, then found love again with actor Christopher Stone – with whom she shares a daughter.
They married in 1980, but he died suddenly of a heart attack in 1995.
Peter Coyote
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Born Robert Peter Cohon, the 80-year-old acting veteran played government scientist Keys in E.T.
He changed his name to Peter Coyote while at college following a “profound experience” when he was high on peyote – a hallucinogenic cactus peyote – during which he saw coyote paw prints.
His acting credits include film roles in Cross Creek, Patch Adams and Erin Brockovich. He also did voice work for the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Robert turned his hand to writing, penning a memoir and a collection of poetry called Tongue of Crow.
He’s been married twice and has two children.
Christopher Thomas Howell
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Making his film debut as Tyler, one of Elliot’s brother Michael’s school friends, C. Thomas Howell has had an illustrious acting career.
He starred alongside Patrick Swayze and Tom Cruise in The Outsiders, which earned him a Young Artist Award.
Other credits include Soul Man, The Hitcher, Red Dawn, The Amazing Spider-Man and Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay.
In 2001 the actor was acquitted of five misdemeanour charges after a confrontation with a skateboarder in Los Angeles.
Christopher married his Soul Man co-star, Rae Dawn Chong, in 1989, but they divorced the following year.
He had three children with his second wife, Sylvie Anderson, but the couple split in 2016 after 14 years of marriage.
