30 Things You Missed In ET

1. ET And King Kong Were Made By The Same Person

Image source/ gettyimagesThe two films ET and King Kong were both created by the same person and that was Carlo Rambaldi. This man was a special effects wizard and won an Academy for Best Visual Effects for his work. He also used his skills to create other films like King Kong, and the Italian also created the film, Alien. 

2. The Voice Of ET Was Discovered In A Store

Image source/ gettyimagesA surprising fact about ET, is that the woman who voices the character of ET was discovered in a camera store, where she was overheard and was thought to have the perfect pitch to play the voice of the character ET. Her name was Pat Walsh, and she was from California. 

3. Steven Spielberg Was In Tears During Henry Thomas' Audition

Image source/ gettyimagesDuring the auditions for the film ET, Steven Spielberg was in tears during the audition of Henry Thomas and the 10-year-old boy had gotten the job as soon as he finished his scene. Henry Thomas stated that the was thinking about his dog that had passed away and that helped him drum the tears up for the scene. 

4. All The Doctors Are Real

Images source/ gettyimagesFor the film ET, Steven Spielberg had requested that all of the doctors and nurses that were needed for the film must be real. He wanted this so that during the scene, the language and dialogue between the doctors sounded real and genuine as they are doctors in real life. 

5. A Huge Amount Of The Budget Went Towards ET's Design

Image source/ gettyimagesIn order to make the film the way it turned out, the producers of ET, had to spend a huge amount of their budget on designing the character of ET. At the time, the producer's team had around 10.6 million dollars to spend on the film and roughly 10% of that was spent on ET himself. 

6. Drew Barrymore Got The Job After His Audition For Another Film

Image source/ gettyimagesWhilst working on ET, Steven Spielberg was also working on another film called Poltergeist and during the auditions for the horror film, Drew Barrymore had auditioned for a role in the film, but Spielberg thought the role was not right for her, but he had a role for her in the film ET. 

7. Actors Were Behind Some Movements By ET

Image source/ gettyimagesWhilst most of ET's movements during the film were through a puppet, there were some scenes in which there were real actors behind a rubber ET costume performing the movements. Actors that were behind ET were the late Pat Bilon and an 11-year-old Matthew DeMeritt. 

8. Cut From The Film Was Harrison Ford

Image source/ gettyimagesAfter previously collaborating with Steven Spielberg for the film Indianna Jones and the raiders of the Lost Ark, Harrison Ford was gifted a small role in the film as Elliot's principle at school. However, his small feature in the film was cut and not included in the final film. 

9. ET's Name Discovered

Image source/ gettyimagesAfter the film ET was released, Steven Spielberg and writer Melissa Mathison, wrote a short treatment of a sequel named ET 2 and was based on Elliot being kidnapped and ET returned to save them. However, the biggest thing about this is that we learn that ET's name is Zrek. 

10. The Film Was Made In Order

Image source/ gettyimagesWhen creating the film, Steven Spielberg wanted the film to be created in chronological order because he wanted to really capture the authentic emotions from his young actors. He wanted to capture them especially for the scene at the end of the film where they say goodbye to ET. 

11. Drew Barrymore Created One Of Her Own Lines

Image source/ gettyimagesDuring auditions, when Drew Barrymore first saw the character of ET, her 6-year-old self said that she did not like the look of ET's feet. Steven Spielberg admired her genuine reaction to ET's character so much that he decided to keep this memorable in the actual film. 

12. Elliot's Actor Hated Being Famous

Image source/ gettyimagesAfter the film ET went on to be a blockbuster film, Elliot's actor, Henry Thomas went on to become a famous star overnight, but he revealed that he did not like all the fame he was getting when he left his house, so he decided not to leave his house for a certain amount of time. 

13. Henry Thomas Still Continued Acting

Image source/ gettyimagesAlthough that Henry Thomas revealed he did not like all the fame and attention he was getting after the film ET was released, he still continued his career in acting and went on to appear in many different films and series. For example, he appeared in Gangs of London. 

14. The Child Actors Didn't Get Much Pay

Image source/ gettyimagesAfter the film ET was released, it was revealed by Henry Thomas that all of the child actors in the film did not receive that much money. In fact, he said that they only earned minimum wage for all of the work and contributions they made towards the film., which is surprising. 

15. Henry Thomas Decided To Keep A Prop

Image source/ universalAfter a film is finished being created, it is quite normal for actors to keep a prop or two off set to themselves and after the film ET, Henry Thomas revealed that he decided to keep a major prop from his scenes, which was his iconic red sweater that his character, Elliot wore during the film. 

16. Drew Barrymore Also Kept A Prop

Image source/ gettyimagesDrew Barrymore also decided to keep a prop from the film ET. Her item was the red cowboy hat that her character wears in the film. Drew Barrymore managed to keep that item for so many years that she has now given the red cowboy hat to her daughter, and it sits in her daughter's room. 

17. English Rock Star Owns An ET Bike

Image source/ gettyimagesIt was revealed that an English rock star is the owner of one of ET's iconic bikes that he rides during the film. The musician Tom Meighan, member of the band Kasabian, spent almost 12 thousand dollars to purchase and be the owner of one of Et's original bikes that he used in the film. 

18. The Original Title Was Not ET

Image source/ gettyimagesWhen the film ET was in the making, the original title was not ET. In fact, the original title for this film was meant to be A Boy's Life. It just doesn't hit the same does it. However, this would have been the title of the film if the title was not changed during the production. 

19. The Actor Of Elliot's Mum Was A Horror Queen

Image source/ gettyimagesThe actress who played Elliot's mother in ET, was called Dee Wallace and Steven Spielberg casted her as Mary Taylor in the film ET. However, what people may not have known is that Dee Wallace has made an appearance in a very long list of horror films during her acting career. 

20. Corey Feldman Was Meant To Be Included

Image source/ gettyimagesWhen the film ET was being crafted, actor Corey Feldman was supposed to be involved in the film. However, Steven Spielberg decided on a last-minute switch up on his character and Core Feldman was no longer apart of the film. Spielberg felt bad for the switch up so gave Feldman a role in the film Gremlins. 

21. The Film Helped Out Reese's

Image source/ universalDuring the film, there is a scene in which Elliot tries to persuade ET to follow him by laying down a trial of Reese's chocolate pieces. After the film was released, it was revealed that the sales of Reese's chocolate pieces had in fact tripled due to its feature in the film ET. 

22. ET Is A Record Breaker

Image source/ gettyimagesThe film ET was officially released on June 11th, 1982, and the film remained on show in theatres for longer than a year. This made ET a record breaker as it held the longest time being shown in theatres in cinema history. This shows how much of an iconic film ET really was. 

23. The Film Made A Lot Of Money

Image source/ universalAfter the initial release of the film ET, the film had beaten Star Wars to become the highest grossing film in history. This record was held for a stunning 11 years until Steven Spielberg broke his own record with Jurassic Park. The film ET has earned over 792 million dollars worldwide. 

24. Drew Barrymore Filmed In The ET House Again

Image source/ youtube18 years after filming in the ET house for the film ET, actress Drew Barrymore filmed in the ET house in Los Angeles again when the actress produced and starred in Charlie's Angels. Although the scene is very quick, you can still see an Et poster in background of the house. 

25. Stunt Bikers Filmed The Chase Scene

Image source/ gettyimagesIn the iconic chase scene in the film, Henry Thomas did not perform all of those stunts and flips on the bike. In fact, the film had hired three professional stunt BMX bike riders to perform this scene. These bikers worked for two weeks for this scene and did not get the credit they deserved. 

26. Steven Spielberg Did Not Want Home Video Release

Image source/ gettyimagesSteven Spielberg did want his film ET to be released on home video and this was to preserve the experience of watching the film on a big screen. Another reason he did not want a home video release was to avoid people pirating the film. The film sold over 15 million video cassettes in its first year. 

27. Nominated Best Picture At Academy Awards

Image source/ gettyimagesThe film ET had four Oscar wins and they were Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Effects Editing and finally Best Original Music. Although it did not win the statue, ET, the blockbuster film in total had collected nine Academy Award nominations for its amazing production. 

28. The Amusement Park Ride Is Still Open

Image source/ gettyimagesIn 1990, ET had its own amusement park ride opened up in Universal Studios Orlando and that ride is currently still in operation for people to go on. The ride features original compositions and lets people take a ride through the home planet of the iconic character ET. 

29. Elliot And ET Reunite

Image source/ denofgeekBack in 2019, Elliot and ET had a very special reunion during a famous Sky advert for Christmas. This four-minute advert was premiered during Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and it also brought back actor Henry Thomas who is sat on a sofa with his old buddy ET. 

30. ET's Favourite Candy Was Meant To Be M&M'S

Image source/ factsiteIn the film, ET's favourite candy is Reese's chocolate pieces, but Steven Spielberg wanted it to be m&m's. However, the Mars cooperation, who owned m&m's refused to let Spielberg use their product in the film, so he turned to Hershey's instead who saw the opportunity to market their new product.