While Steven Spielberg's 1982 classic E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial opened doors for child actors like Drew Barrymore, Henry Thomas and C. Thomas Howell, the film almost featured Harrison Ford in a sneaky cameo as Elliott's school principal. E.T., considered one of the greatest sci-fi films ever, follows ten-year-old Elliott and his discovery of a mysterious alien amidst the cornstalks near his home. Elliott finds out he shares a telepathic connection with the alien, later named E.T., but this lands the young boy in some hot water.
One day, E.T. spends his time lounging around the house while drinking beer and watching television. Due to their empathetic connection, Elliott nearly becomes intoxicated and begins setting the frogs in his biology class free. Additionally, Elliott kisses a girl after E.T. watches John Wayne kiss Maureen O'Hara in The Quiet Man. And for his unruly behavior, Elliott is sent to the principal's office, where he meets Ford.
While Ford's face never appears, it's clear by his voice alone that he played Elliott's principal. Ford also has a habit of angrily pointing in many of his films, which happens during his cameo in E.T. Ford agreed to make a cameo in E.T. since Melissa Mathison, his girlfriend and future wife, served as a screenwriter for the film. It was also in the actor's favor that he had starred in his irreplaceable role as Indiana Jones in Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark a year before E.T. released in theaters.
Ford's cameo ultimately got cut before E.T. was released, but a blurry version of the scene resurfaced on YouTube in 2020. The actor reprimanded Elliott for letting the frogs loose, kissing a girl and warning him about the dangers of underage drinking. When Ford turned his back, Elliott's chair began levitating until he hit the ceiling. However, he crashed to the ground when Ford turned back to look at him.
Considering Ford's connection with Spielberg, it's surprising his cameo didn't make it into the final cut. But since most of E.T. was shot from a child's perspective, Spielberg believed Ford's cameo would stray away from the film's intended focus and become a distraction. Even though Ford got dropped from the film, Thomas, who played Elliott, was delighted to have him on set. "That was a very big day for me. Harrison Ford was my hero," revealed Thomas in an interview.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022, and fans still return to the classic. The familiar story even almost got revisited in a dark, twisted format, but the sequel never saw the light of day. Luckily, Ford's cameo didn't follow the same suit, and E.T. fans finally got to see what the scene could have been like.