Drew Barrymore and Jessica Capshaw on knowing each other through Steven Spielberg and “Temple of Doom”

And Barrymore's failed audition for "Poltergeist."

Drew Barrymore and Jessica Capshaw have been friends for a really long time, and they have one very special mutual father figure to thank: Steven Spielberg.

During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, the host and Grey's Anatomy actress reminisced about their longtime connection.

"So, her father is Steven Spielberg and so that is my father figure, and he's the only father figure I've had," Barrymore told the audience of Capshaw's relation. "And we've known each other since elementary school and then being on the set of [Spielberg's film] Temple of Doom, which is where he and your mom fell in love."

Spielberg is technically Capshaw's step-father, having wed her mother, Temple of Doom star Kate Capshaw, in 1991. Jessica pointed out to Barrymore that the set of the second Indiana Jones film was also where the two friends first met.

"And it's where we met. So, I met [Spielberg] when I was six," Jessica added of her step-dad. "You probably met him when you were, how old, six?"

"Exactly," Barrymore told her, before clarifying, "I might have been five because I auditioned for Poltergeist. And then he said, 'No this isn’t [right].'" (Barrymore was considered for the role of Carol Anne in the 1982 horror flick, but Spielberg famously wanted someone more angelic for the part. However, her audition did ultimately land her the part of Gertie in his 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which would become her breakout role.)

"[He said] it's not the right thing, which of course I was, like, crushed and then he was like, ‘But there's something else’ and I was like, ‘Ok, I'm back.’ I've got another chance," Barrymore recalled to her friend, who added, "I think that worked out."

"I think it worked out really well," Barrymore agreed. "I'm inextricably linked with your family."

Barrymore has been open about her love of Spielberg in the past, including revealing in a June 2023 Vulture profile that she once asked him to be her dad — an offer which he declined, though he did eventually become her godfather.

Watch the full clip, in which Jessica and Barrymore also discuss the time Jessica met Taylor Swift and eventually got her phone number, in the video above.

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