Steven Spielberg claimed he felt inspired to become a father after directing a young Drew Barrymore his 1982 hit film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

On Sunday, the 78-year-old moviemaker — who has six children — and Drew, 49, opened up about working together and their impact on one another during a panel at the TCM Classic Film Festival in New York City.

The talk show host said: ‘I think E.T., for me, is the one I’m the most proud of. It changed my life. There’s no question about that. Everything in my life is about how I got believed in by one human being, and that is the life that I try to honor every day.’

Steven replied: ‘It changed my life also. Up until that point — ’81, ’82 — I was just making movies. That was my life. I was obsessed with telling stories, but making E.T. made me want to be a father for the first time.’

‘I never even thought about that until E.T.,’ he admitted.

When the Never Been Kissed star asked the Oscar-winning director if her presence on set didn’t ‘ruin’ the idea of fatherhood for him, he reᴀssured her that it was ‘quite the opposite,’ in fact. 

Steven Spielberg claimed he felt inspired to become a father after directing a young Drew Barrymore his 1982 hit film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

In response, Drew quipped: ‘Thank goodness, my job is done.’

The Cincinnati, Ohio native shares has Max, 39, with his ex Amy Irving, as well as Theo, 36, Sasha, 34, Sawyer, 32, Mikaela, 28, and Destry, 28, with his wife Kate Capshaw. 

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And he added that all of his children have now seen the classic film, although he has not shown E.T. to all of his grandchildren because they are ‘sill too young’ at the moment.

The blockbuster pioneer said: ‘I have seven kids and six grandkids. I’ve shown the film to all my kids and a couple of my grandkids.

‘Some of them are still too young, because I’m always worried about them being worried about E.T. and I want to let them know before they turn the corner and are surprised by something, what to expect.’

Back in April 2022, Steven revealed a deeply personal inspiration behind one of his most iconic films during a heartfelt appearance at the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival.

Speaking at a special event marking the 40th anniversary of the beloved classic, the legendary filmmaker opened up about how E.T. was shaped by his own parents’ emotional divorce.

At the time he thought, ‘What if I turn my story about divorce into a story about children, a family, trying to fill the great need and creating such responsibility?’

Drew was only six-years-old when acting in E.T.

The talk show host said: ‘I think E.T., for me, is the one I’m the most proud of. It changed my life’

‘Making E.T. made me want to be a father for the first time,’ Steven said

When the Never Been Kissed star asked the Oscar-winning director if her presence on set didn’t ‘ruin’ the idea of fatherhood for him, he reᴀssured her that it was ‘quite the opposite’

He previously explained how he was basically ‘a parent’ on the set of E.T. and he was especially protective of the young cast members

He added, ‘It was the first time that it occurred to me that maybe I could be a dad. And maybe in a way, a director is a dad, or a mom’

‘A divorce creates great responsibility, especially if you have siblings; we all take care of each other,’ he recalled. ‘What if Elliott, or the kid — I hadn’t dreamed up his name yet — needed to, for the first time in his life, become responsible for a life form to fill the gap in his heart?’

He then explained how he was basically ‘a parent’ on the set of E.T. and he was especially protective of the young cast members.

‘I didn’t want to have kids because it was not a kind of equation that made sense for me as I was going from movie to movie to movie, script to script,’ he shared. ‘It never occurred to me until halfway through E.T.’

The director added, ‘I was a parent on that film, especially [with] Drew, who was only six-years-old.’

He finished, ‘And I started thinking, “Well, maybe this could be my real life someday.” It was the first time that it occurred to me that maybe I could be a dad. And maybe in a way, a director is a dad, or a mom.’