The Cast of <em>E.T.</em> Then and Now

In 1982, director Steven Spielberg introduced audiences to a loveable alien and his earthling friends with the epic film, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. The movie — which earned nine Academy Award nominations and four wins — made more than $350 million at the box office when it was released in 1982.

"I knew that when I read the script, I knew what an amazing movie it was for the world," star Dee Wallace told PEOPLE at a 40th anniversary celebration of E.T. at the TCM Classic Film Festival in L.A. earlier this year. Here, see the stars of the movie, then and now.

E.T. catapaulted a young Barrymore, a.k.a. Gertie, to superstardom, with a decades-long career that has included Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award wins and Emmy nominations, and now, a successful daytime talk show.

As for the film's big anniversary, Barrymore, now 47, told PEOPLE she's been in touch with Spielberg about celebratory plans — and that the milestone is extra-special for daughters Frankie and Olive (with ex Will Kopelman), too.

"I want to revel in this moment with them and include them and celebrate with Steven," she shared. "He's a big father figure to me. He's like, 'We're not missing this moment with your kids.' This is very emotional and full circle: my kids are very close to the age that I was when E.T. came out. Frankie, actually, is at the age, she's 7."

Thomas, then 10, took on the lead role as Elliott, just his third acting credit. It sent him on a lengthy career, with more recent roles on The Haunting of Hill House and To All the Boys: Always and Forever.

"It's a part of my childhood," Thomas, now 50 and a father of three, told Metacritic. "I mean, a lot of people's childhoods, too! But I have very visceral memories of being on set and just day-to-day stuff. It was 40 years ago, and I was a kid, so it's like a childhood memory."

"I am in constant awe of the success of the film and the place that it occupies in people's hearts," he continued. "I never in a million years would have thought I would be, 40 years later, talking about this."

Like several of his costars, 13-year-old Howell got his start in E.T., and went on to earn endless credits, in everything from The Outsiders and Gettysburg to more recent parts on The Walking Dead and Criminal Minds. Now a 55-year-old father of three, he told Rich Eisen in 2021 that he got the part of Tyler almost by default.

"Spielberg wanted that character to smoke a cigarette in a scene, and the person they [initially] cast was a Mormon kid. His mom said, 'He's not going to smoke a cigarette!' " When Howell pretended to light a cigarette in his audition, the director told him, "You've got the part."

Howell, whose dad was a stuntman, continued, "I really planned on doing stunts and not being an actor, but that led to me having an agent. I was able to get [The Outsiders] ... you go from Spielberg to Coppola, but it's all downhill from there!"

Martel, who'd already appeared on several television series before joining E.T. in the role of Greg as a young teen, continued his work on the small screen after the movie, most notably on Growing Pains, his final Hollywood project.

Married with two children, Martel now works in wealth management, though turned out for the 40th anniversary celebration of E.T. at the TCM Classic Film Festival in L.A. earlier this year.

As Elliott and Gertie's big brother Michael, MacNaughton formed a close bond with costar Henry Thomas, and even recalled to PEOPLE a time when the young actors were playing Dungeons & Dragons on set and Spielberg asked to join them.

"Right away his character ... died," he said. "He got killed by a giant snail. I'm sure he was probably relieved to get out of the game, but it still was a fun memory — he was like another kid, willing to come in and hang out with us."

MacNaughton, who got his start in theater, stopped acting in the late 1980s, though picked back up with a few film and TV roles in recent years. Now 55, he is married with four children.

A politically active college student, Coyote got his start on the stage; though he's now a household name, his part as Keys in E.T. was actually one of his first mainstream credits.

Now 80 and a father of two, the actor is as known for his Emmy-winning television roles as he is for his voice work on everything from the Oscars and the Olympics to The Vietnam War.

"The reason I cast Dee, she had the heart of a child and she would allow her kids to call her [by her character's name] Mary, not Mom," Spielberg recalled during an E.T. 40th anniversay panel. "In a sense, I cast a child in Dee Wallace to be a part of this. Peter Coyote was the adult, but Dee was part of the kids' group."

Wallace already had a busy television career before joining E.T., and kept rolling afterward on The New Lassie, Sons and Daughters and Just Add Magic, among dozens of other projects. The 73-year-old has one adult daughter with her late husband.

The director, then in his early 30s, was about a decade into his now-epic feature film career when E.T. hit theaters — and as he said in the recent Q&A to celebrate the movie's anniversary, it made him rethink his future.

"I was a parent on that film. I was literally feeling like I was very protective of Henry and my whole cast, and especially Drew, who was only 6 years old. And I started thinking, well, maybe this could be my real life someday," he shared. "It was the first time it had never occurred to me that maybe I could be a dad. It started to really gnaw away at me. So when I left those kids, when we all went our separate ways ... I really felt that would be my next big production."

Now a 75-year-old father of six (and a grandfather!), Spielberg is a 19-time Oscar nominee.