Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial remains a nearly perfect film decades after it hit theaters. But there was almost a subplot included that would have drastically changed the tone for parts of the film. And that subplot involved a potential romance with the lovable alien and… Elliot’s mother?? Yes, it’s true. At least according to actress Dee Wallace, who played the family matriarch Mary. She recently spilled the beans on this dropped plot point on the Still Here Hollywood podcast, via Comic Book. Here’s what she had to say:
There’s a whole B story in E.T. about E.T. having a love affair with Mary, a love crush on Mary. And there’s little bits of it left in there. 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. I argued my point that this was a family film. So we compromised and pulled the sheet up almost to my shoulder blades, which I was okay with.
So, it wasn’t like E.T. and Mary actually have an affair or anything. Nothing that weird was ever on the table it seems. But at one point, it feels like E.T. definitely had the hots for Elliot’s mom. The only reason this would have been super weird is that the film portrays E.T. as almost another child himself. Which isn’t to say kids don’t have unrequited crushes on grown ups, but it would have been a distraction from his main relationship with Elliot, Gertie, and Michael.
Dee Wallace was right to ask them to remove it from the final cut. Still, it puts the whole movie in a different light when you watch it now, knowing E.T. has a thing for a human lady. Folks, ’80s movies could get truly weird sometimes. And that’s why we still love them.
Content shared from nerdist.com.