DEE WALLACE: THE POWER IS YOURS

The veteran actress opens up about her life today, film memories and wisdom

- Susan Hornik

In E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Dee Wallace's character arrives at the alien spaceship just in time to witness her son Elliott saying goodbye to the titular creature. As the little boy hugs E.T., tears begin to flow both on-screen and off. "Director Steven Spielberg was a very kind genius,” Dee tells Closer. “He knew exactly what he wanted, and he gave us all a lot of freedom to bring in ideas and follow our own impulses, which is when the magic happens."

With more than 250 film credits, six series and over 200 commercials on her résumé, Dee, 73, has made a lot of magic over her long career, yet she will always have a special place in her heart for E.T., which is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

"My favorite scene is when I am reading Peter Pan to Gertie [Drew Barrymore) and E.T.is spying on us. It reminds me of all the beautiful moments I have had with my own daughter when she was little,” Dee says. A special screening of the much-loved science fiction classic will kick off the 13th annual TMC Classic Film Festival on April 21 in Hollywood.

What are some of your other favorite memories filming E.T.?

Some of my favorite memories were literally watching the kids and how they got together as a family. They played basketball and ran around with each other - even the little boy with no legs (Matthew De Meritt), who'd go around on a skateboard. It was really a family affair. That transferred in a beautiful way onto the film.

What was the biggest challenge of making the movie?

Waiting! When you work with creative people, you have to be there all the time. Waiting is always hard for me. You know there's that old adage, “They don't pay an actor to act, they pay them to wait!” It's so true.

Was it hard to make-believe the E.T. creature was alive?