Overview

• During the season 6 premiere of The Drew Barrymore Show, Barrymore and Zeta-Jones agreed Spielberg “changed both of our lives.”
• Zeta-Jones recounted that Spielberg saw her in a TV miniseries, prompted a meeting with director Martin Campbell, and within days she flew to Mexico to screen test for The Mask of Zorro.
• She said winning the role opposite Antonio Banderas and Anthony Hopkins “changed my life,” describing the rapid casting process that followed Spielberg’s interest.
• Barrymore noted her own breakthrough as a 7-year-old in Spielberg’s 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
• Related recent praise came from West Side Story star Rachel Zegler, who wrote on Instagram that she feels “indebted” to Spielberg for believing in her at 17 and supporting her current stage work.