“E.T.” also known as “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” was inspired by a tragic event in Steven Spielberg’s life.

In 1982, the Spielberg-directed film earned a whopping box office sales of $792.9 million with only a $10.5 million budget. It tells the story of a boy named Elliott who befriends an extraterrestrial who is left on Earth. He and his family help E.T. to return home while hiding it from the government.

While the plot already piqued people’s interest, Spielberg shared a heartbreaking detail about it and how he was able to create the film.

On Thursday, the renowned filmmaker attended the 2022 TCM Classic Film Festival, where he recalled working with Joan Crawford on “Night Gallery.” Elsewhere during his nearly-30-minute talk, the 75-year-old revealed that his parents’ divorce helped him come up with the end of his 1977 film, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

At the same time, one of his thoughts became the general plotline of “E.T.”

“A divorce creates great responsibility, especially if you have siblings; we all take care of each other. 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 said.

Spielberg added that he had been working on the script about his parent’s split and divorce. With that, he started thinking of ideas about it and its effects on him and his sisters.

Although his parents’ divorce broke him and his family, it eventually led him to the spotlight through this film.

Steven Spielberg Explains How Drew Barrymore Became Gertie in “E.T.”

During the same event, the director took his time to explain how the then-6-year-old Drew Barrymore made it to play the role of Gertie in “E.T.” According to Spielberg, he immediately closed the role soon after meeting Barrymore.

“Drew came into my office and took over the meeting by storm. She stormed the citadel of my office at MGM. She really did,” he said.

At that time, Barrymore said she did not want to follow her family’s footsteps in the acting industry because she was too busy with her punk rock band – which was an imaginary one.

Spielberg then realized that Barrymore’s life with her imaginary band would help the actress visualize the “E.T.” alien character and see it as something that is alive.