In 1995, Drew Barrymore made headlines by appearing in Playboy, and her godfather, Steven Spielberg, had a humorous way of responding to her magazine cover.
Barrymore’s career began in 1982 when she played the role of Gertie in Spielberg’s acclaimed sci-fi film, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
The movie tells the story of a young boy named Elliot Taylor (played by Henry Thomas) who discovers and befriends an alien left stranded on Earth.
Barrymore and Spielberg have maintained a close bond since then. As her godfather, Spielberg played a significant role in her life, often acting as a father figure during her formative years and beyond.
Barrymore once described Spielberg as ‘the only person in my life to this day that ever was a parental figure’.
During the filming of E.T., Barrymore even asked Spielberg to adopt her, but he gently declined.
Spielberg recounted that he did provide guidance to Barrymore, especially as she navigated her early years. During an interview with Vulture, he recalled a time she showed up on set wearing red lipstick.
“She was staying up way past her bedtime, going to places she should have only been hearing about, and living a life at a very tender age that I think robbed her of her childhood,” Spielberg said.
“Yet I felt very helpless because I wasn’t her dad. I could only kind of be a consigliere to her.”
So, when Barrymore graced the Playboy cover, Spielberg’s response was both playful and protective.
He sent Barrymore a quilt with the message ‘cover up’, along with a copy of the magazine adorned with paper doll clothes to conceal the exposed images.
On The Drew Barrymore Show, Spielberg explained his reaction to seeing the cover.
Spielberg shared: “I sent her the Playboy layout and I had an artist come over and do paper doll cut out clothes which I glued on to all of the partially exposed photographs, and sent the whole thing back to Drew now she’s dressed.”
Barrymore responded: “Because that’s what parents do!
“Yeah, he’s like the first person I knew cared.”
Revealing how she landed her role in E.T. with Spielberg, Barrymore shared that she initially auditioned for a different film.
In a resurfaced clip, she explained: “They interviewed me for Poltergeist first and she said, ‘She’s not really like the girl who’s in the part in the script’.
“So Kathy Kennedy, the producer of E.T. said, ‘Well maybe she’s right for E.T.’, cause [Spielberg] was doing E.T. and Poltergeist at the same time.”