Steven Spielberg ‘Felt Helpless’ Watching Drew Barrymore Being ‘Robbed of Her Childhood’ While Making ‘E.T.,’ but ‘I Wasn’t Her Dad’
Zack Sharf Digital News Director Steven Spielberg has always been a father figure to Drew Barrymore, but he actually said no when Barrymore asked him to be her real father during the making of their 1982 classic “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.” Barrymore was only 7 years old at the time. In a new Barrymore profile published by Vulture, Barrymore praised Spielberg as “the only person in my life to this day that ever was a parental figure.” He eventually agreed to be her godfather. Barrymore’s own father, the actor John Drew Barrymore, was an abusive alcoholic. “Talk about someone who was not a careerist,” Barrymore said. “He was like, ‘I will burn this fucking dynasty to the ground.’”