E.T. The Extraterrestrial is not only one of the best movies of the 1980s, but it’s also one of the greatest sci-fi films ever made. (And my favorite movie). That’s why I cannot believe I just found out the story behind its titular character. The little alien was made possible through groundbreaking animatronic technology and three actors who could actually fit inside the suit. Two of them were little people, Pat Bilon and Tamara De Treaux, and the third was a 12-year-old disabled boy who was born without legs.
The Story Behind The Disabled Actor Who Played E.T.
Matthew De Meritt has always walked on his hands to get around. While much of the time this might put him at a disadvantage, it actually proved really useful to bring E.T. to life on set. The actor, who’s now 56 years old, could not only fit in the suit, but it also became the perfect solution to film the alien practically. Here’s how he explains how he worked with the other two actors:
They used me in all the scenes where E.T. had to fall because the main actors… they would have broken their bones. So, I volunteered to take the hits.
The two other actors had brittle bones, something common to people with dwarfism. So De Meritt was the only actor of the three to be able to do E.T.’s stunts.
As a result, he was inside the E.T. costume for a ton of his iconic scenes. The kitchen scene where E.T. raids the fridge and falls down after having beer, for example. Or the scene when E.T. gets startled by the camera flash on Halloween. As the E.T. veteran also explained in a 2025 interview with Adventures Access:
It’s like an animatronic puppet basically that was being operated by four or five operators, so no one was in the costume for those scenes.
So, in the sequences when you see E.T.'s face, it’s the work of animatronics. But whenever the alien is on the go, it’s one of the actors inside.
The Impact Playing E.T. Had On Dealing With His Disability
De Meritt has also talked about how taking on the rare role actually helped him emotionally deal with his disability as a child, too. In his words:
Before E.T., I was bullied a lot as a kid, and I had a hard time dealing with that. E.T. came along right at the peak [of having] that bully. And, as soon as I got on the set, I met Robert [McDon] and Henry [Thomas], and we immediately bonded and started hanging out, and all of a sudden it’s like when I would go back to school the bullying stopped. So, I think it gave me a sense of confidence that my bully sensed, and they laid off me.
It wasn’t his gained notoriety that changed how other people saw him after playing E.T.; it was the “confidence” that playing the role gave him. As De Meritt shared, he really got along with the other young actors who played Elliott and his older brother Michael. Getting to be part of a film by a beloved director isn’t an opportunity many get, but it made all the difference to him.
How often do you hear a story like this about someone with a disability who contributed to a major Hollywood production in a big way? What may be seen as a shortcoming by society was embraced as a skill that made De Meritt specifically needed in a role. It makes one wonder about all the stories we don’t know about other stories of real people with disabilities that go unsung. Or how the community is often shortsighted when they can fill unexpected roles that can make a film or TV show better.
According to the World Health Organization’s reporting, one in six people are dealing with a significant disability. There’s not enough visibility for the disabled in movies and TV as is. May Matthew De Meritt’s role in E.T. be a reminder that we need more stories involving people with disabilities at the forefront.
