E.T 20th Anniversary Special Edition: Interview

Review by Clint Morris

Interview with Dee Wallace-Stone and Erika Eleniak
Actors from the forthcoming E.T Special Edition film.

When Steven Spielberg asked actresses Erika Eleniak and Dee Wallace-Stone to star in his new movie – then called A Boy’s Life – the willing starlets signed on the dotted line – Wallace-Stone as Elliot’s mother and Eleniak as the love interest - uninformed that they had just committed to what would be one of the most inexhaustible films in Cinema history.

Now, some 20 years later, a post-Baywatch Eleniak, and Wallace- Stone, a veteran of some 85 movies, talk candidly to Clint Morris about E.T: The 20th Anniversary Special Edition, and the joy of working on Steven Spielberg’s titular tale of extra terrestrials.

Erika Eleniak

“I was performing a scene in a showcase in L.A. and apparently there was a talent scout in the audience who told Steven Spielberg about me,” says a rapturous Eleniak.

“I chose it because of the script. I thought it could move the world in a positive way,” adds Wallace-Stone, who currently stars on TV’s Felicity.

“Mr. Spielberg had a meeting arranged through my agency... and VOILA! We met, and he asked me at the end of the meeting if I wanted to be in his movie,” states Eleniak.

E.T did just that, and 20 years later it’s being re-released all over again and the stars of the film, our present company included, are experiencing the elation of being involved in it all over again.

“It speaks to the heart. It speaks truth. We all want that,” says Wallace-Stone of the film, which features one of the most identifiable characters on screen to date. As much as the film was pretty much only a small personal film for Spielberg, it was still sworn in secrecy.

“It was a very closed and secretive set, so during my 3 or 4 days of filming I mingled, but unfortunately, I never did get to "meet" E.T,” says a cheerless Eleniak.

E.T was one of the principal box office successes of the 1980s. “I had no idea how big and amazing this film would turn out to be. I was told very little about the story... only that it was about a boy and an alien and that the film was called A Boy’s Life.

“When I was finished filming - that was that - until I saw it in a theater. And boy was I wide-eyed and stunned!!” Says Eleniak.

“And the production was Fabulous. Like working with seasoned professionals,” adds Wallace-Stone of the film, and her young co-stars.

Dee Wallace-Stone

“Steven was wonderful with us kids! He was soooo much fun! He laughed and joked with us all the time. I remember one day on set we had these 'scented' magic markers and Steven TASTED some of them to see if they tasted as good as they smelled!!!... (laughs) and obviously to make us laugh. He was also very gentle and understanding. He made me feel as safe and comfortable as possible... especially when the day came to do the "kissing" scene because I was so nervous,” explains Eleniak.

“Absolutely. What marvelous company. Great people. Great actors. A delight,” adds Wallace-Stone. “My time in the film is short and sweet, so the character was never really given a name. What Steven did was very kind; He listed me with the main cast of players as pretty girl. I was the little girl in the classroom that Elliot kisses when E.T is watching TV and John Wayne kisses Maureen O'Hara in the The Quiet Man,” Eleniak adds of the small role she played.

Now, two decades later, Steven Spielberg has added some new scenes and a dazzling new soundtrack. “I haven't seen it but E.T is taking a bath which is supposedly hysterical and there’s an extension of the Halloween scene that have been added,” says Wallace-Stone.

“I definitely think it deserves the re-release. It's the kind of film that is as timeless as it is magical. I think it touched the hearts of almost everyone... And a movie that softens even the hardest of hearts is always good to be taken down off the shelves and dusted off again. It makes us a little kinder afterwards. Even if it only lasts as long as it takes to get out of the parking lot,” adds Eleniak.

After a March theatrical release, the film will head to DVD stores later in the year. “I’m slightly involved,” says Wallace-Stone. “I did a pre-interview.”

Eleniak won’t be involved though. “My time on set was so short I didn't really get to know any of the other players of the cast. So no, we haven't 'stayed in touch'.” She says.

Although Spielberg mulled about it for years, a sequel was never made. “When you make a sequel to a classic, it isn't classic anymore. ET is a classic,” explains Wallace-Stone.

“One can only speculate why a sequel has never been done. The film was so amazing and really a piece of film history. Sometimes sequels have a hard time living up to the original, although, if anyone could do it, Steven Spielberg could!” Says Eleniak.

And with their careers burgeoning once again thanks to the re-release of E.T, it’s off to new ventures for the two actresses. Eleniak will be hitting sitcom land, while Wallace-Stone is on her way to New York to costar in Dead Canaries with Charles Durning and Dan Lauria. “I get to play a mob wife. Yippee!” says the actress.

E.T the 20th Anniversary Special Edition opens March 28th

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