Overview

• Dee Wallace revealed that a proposed storyline involving E.T. having a romantic crush on her character, Mary, was largely removed during production.
• Wallace objected to a bedroom scene where Spielberg wanted her sheet positioned lower, arguing it was inappropriate for a family film.
• Producers Kathleen Kennedy and writer Melissa Mathison supported Wallace, leading to a compromise where the sheet was raised to her shoulder blades.
• In the 2002 digital remaster, Spielberg replaced federal agents’ shotguns with walkie-talkies, a decision he later admitted was a mistake.
• Spielberg has since reflected on the importance of preserving a film’s original essence, calling revisions to E.T. unnecessary and ill-advised.