40 years since Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was released and the hit sci-fi film has solidified itself as a cult classic.

Drew Barrymore, who starred in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial when she was just a child, is celebrating the big anniversary by reuniting her former cast-mates Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, and Robert McNaughton on her talk show The Drew Barrymore Show.

Drew speaks about how she thought E.T. was real , “I really loved him in such a profound way,” Barrymore recalled. “I would go and take lunch to him.”

Drew Barrymore on the set of “E.T.”. (Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

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The other actors who were older than Barrymore recalled her treating him like he was real.

“The first thing I remember is that we were on stage and it was quite cold on the stage and you asked the wardrobe lady if you could have a scarf for E.T.’s neck because he was gonna get cold, so you wrapped the scarf around his neck,” Thomas said. “But Dee has a great story.”

“We found you over there just talking away to E.T. and so we let Steven know,” Wallace said. “So Steven, from that time on, appointed two guys to keep E.T. alive so whenever you came over to talk to him, he could react to you.”

Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore on the set of “E.T.”. (Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)