E.T. mum opens up: 'Speilberg asked me to get nude on film'

After playing the mother of Elliott (Henry Thomas) and Gertie (Drew Barrymore) in Steven Spielberg's E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial exactly 30 years ago, actor Dee Wallace is no longer keeping mum about the problems she faced with the Oscar-winning director.

"Steven Spielberg and I butted heads a couple of times," the 63-year-old said in an interview promoting her new movie Fuzz Track City. "I think that's what it's about when everyone wants the best and wants to bring the best, they fight for what they think is the best."

"Steven wanted me to be a lot more nude in the scene where E.T. brings the Reese's Pieces in. I said: 'Why? I think that's wrong'. He wanted the cover way down on the bed. I really argued with him about that."

"I was face down in the bed but it's just little things like that. It's creative decisions that get made in the spur of the moment."

The actress is now an acting coach, public speaker, self-help author and radio "healer" in between doing the odd film or TV role, like the 2007 Halloween remake and guest stints on Law and Order: Los Angeles and Criminal Minds.

E.T will be re-released in a Blu-ray special edition in October with new featurettes, interviews and some changes by Spielberg. One of them will be reversing the change Spielberg made for the 2002 re-release, where he replaced the cops' guns for walkie-talkies.

"For myself, I tried [changing the film] once and lived to regret it," Spielberg recently said at a fan screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark. He felt he had "robbed people who loved E.T. of their memories of E.T.'."

Dee also didn't like the change, but understood Spielberg's intent of making a statement "about violence in the world for kids".

Dee's on-screen son Henry Thomas, who played Elliott, told The Mirror earlier this month that she is the main cast member he still sees, as well as Drew Barrymore now and then, but the pair are not "close friends".

"But I am going to Robert MacNaughton's wedding next month — he played my older brother Michael," the now 40-year-old actor and sometime musician said.

Henry admitted that he didn't make much money from E.T., despite it going on to take $792 million at the box office.

"I was 10 years old, remember. I basically got the minimum wage," he said. "Universal and Spielberg did really well. The minions had to go back to work. I do get residual cheques, though, which is great. And I got it better than E.T... he's off in a box somewhere!"

How did you react when you first saw E.T.? Tell us below, and check out our gallery of most traumatising kids movies.