Drew Barrymore Dons Iconic ‘E.T.’ Cowgirl Hat 40 Years Later: It ‘Still Fits’

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Drew Barrymore, 47, is no longer little Gertie, but on Oct. 31 she put on the iconic red hat once more for the E.T. reunion on The Drew Barrymore Show. “It’s been 40 years and the hat still fits #ET40,” the actress and Universal Pictures captioned a co-shared Instagram photo. In the adorable side-by-side snapshot, Drew placed the red cowgirl hat on top of her 47-year-old self next to a photo of a younger Drew dressed as Gertie from the cult classic. On June 11, the Steven Spielberg–directed film officially turned 40 years old, and the cast got together during the Halloween episode of Drew’s show.

Many of the movie’s fanbase took to the comments section of the post to gush about how adorable the TV host looked in her hat. “Howdy, Gertie,” one admirer commented, while another said, “I forget she was a child star. Firestarter was one of my favorites.” The image was also shared via Twitter, where even more E.T. fans continued to compliment Drew on the throwback photo. “Aw, that’s just precious,” a Twitter follower quipped. One of the actress’ followers even thanked Drew for having the cast reunite during Monday’s episode of her show. “I watched your show for the ET reunion and it was incredible it brought back a lot of childhood memories. There was a great moment on television for ET fans! Thank you!,” the fan wrote.

The cast members of the hit 1982 film that joined the Charlie’s Angels star on her hit talk show included Henry Thomas (Elliot), 51, Robert MacNaughton (Michael), 55, and Dee Wallace (Mary), 73. During the iconic meetup, Drew told Henry how instrumental he was in making the film happen. “I don’t think any of this would’ve worked without you,” she gushed. “You were the perfect Elliot.” The Legends of the Fall actor then complimented his costar back by praising her for her acting skills at such a young age. “Thanks, but when I watch it now, I can’t believe how funny you were and how cute you were,” he said. Robert then chimed in and called drew a “little scene stealer.” Henry then joked that even today Drew doesn’t even need to speak because once she’s on the screen the focus of the audience immediately shifts to her.

During the episode the FLOWER Beauty founder went on to reveal that when she was filming the movie at six years old, she thought the Extra-Terrestrial being was real. “Now I believed E.T. was real,” she told her castmates. “I really loved him in such a profound way, I would go and take lunch to him.” Henry then shared an adorable story of how Drew actually requested a scarf for the E.T character because she believed “he would get cold.” Dee also shared a sweet memory that moved Drew to tears. “We found you over there just talking away to E.T. and so we let Steven know,” Dee then 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.”

Since her time on E.T., Drew has gone on to become one of Hollywood’s most successful actresses starring in nearly 100 hit movies. During the late 1990s she became one of the favorite actress in romantic comedies including the film Never Been Kissed starring Michael Vartan. Later, she starred alongside Adam Sandler, 56, in the 2004 comedy 50 First Dates. She also played Dylan Sanders in the 2000 version of Charlie’s Angels alongside Lucy Liu, 53, and Cameron Diaz, 50. These days she is busy hosting her daytime talk show and running her beauty brand, FLOWER Beauty. She was married to Will Kopelman from 2012 to 2016 and together they had two kids: Olive, 10, and Frankie, 8.