Drew Barrymore thinks it’s ‘crazy’ she was on ‘The Tonight Show’ aged seven

17 May 2024

Drew Barrymore says it’s “crazy” she appeared on ‘The Tonight Show’ for the first time aged seven.

Drew Barrymore says it’s ‘crazy’ she appeared on ‘The Tonight Show’ for the first time aged seven

The ‘E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial’ actress, 49, starred in the Steven Spielberg alien classic at the tender age, leading to her walking red carpets and featuring on talk shows.

She told Jimmy Fallon, 49, on his ‘The Tonight Show’ her mind was blown by how young she was by her TV appearance at seven when a video of it was played on the programme – which showed her screaming like she did in ‘E.T.’ and her legs not long enough to reach the floor from her seat.

Drew said: ‘I did the ‘The Tonight Show’ for the first time in 1982. That’s so crazy, with Johnny Carson.”

Jimmy told Drew they had a clip of her with Johnny aged seven, prompting her to exclaim: “No!”

The clip was shown – during with Johnny, who died aged 79 in 2005, asked Drew to “give me a scream” as she famously let out at a screech in ‘E.T.’ when her character lays eyes on the alien.

Drew says in the footage: “Guys, ready?” before belting out a high-pitched wail.

Johnny tells her: “That’s a good scream. Have you always been able to do that?”

Drew replied: “I practiced so much at home that I was able to do it. So the other day I screamed my throat off.

“When I got home, I was sweating. I need to take a shower badly. I was filthy!”

Jimmy said about the clip: “What are you doing? Who is that person? It is so charming.

“That is so charming, that person. And look at what a great woman you’ve become. That little baby, come on.”

Drew went on: “You know what’s so wild when I look at that – my legs don’t touch the ground.

“Like we are all growing up together. I’m 49 years old and I’m like, I’m just growing up with everyone.

“And my legs touched the ground now!”

Drew recently told how she thought of E.T. as her “first imaginary friend” during the filming of the iconic movie.

She added to People: “I think E.T. was definitely, sort of, my first imaginary friend that I also knew wasn’t real.

“I fully understood, but I think we need to project a matter of a belief system in things. Whether it's imaginary or very real and tangible, it’s part of a survival mechanism, as well as just an absolute pleasure to identify things that make us feel good, that we feel like believe in us, like we believe in them.”