Dee Wallace Is Grateful She ‘Wasn’t Put in a Cubby Hole’ as She Explored Different Genres from “Stepford Wives” to “E.T.” (Exclusive)
Dee Wallace Is Grateful She ‘Wasn’t Put in a Cubby Hole’ as She Explored Different Genres from “Stepford Wives” to “E.T.” (Exclusive)
Angela AndaloroFri, July 31, 2026 at 4:27 PM UTC
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Dee Wallace in ‘Cujo’ (1983); Dee Wallace in ‘9-1-1’ (2025)Credit: Warner Brothers/Getty; FOX via Getty -
Dee Wallace got her start in acting in 1975’s The Stepford Wives
Though today she’s known by many for her role as Mary Taylor in E.T., Wallace, 77, has also starred in a number of horror films
In a catch-up with PEOPLE, Wallace expresses her gratitude for getting diverse opportunities throughout her acting career
Dee Wallace feels lucky to have been able to showcase her range.
The Hills Have Eyes actress, 77, caught up with PEOPLE in a look back at a career that’s seen her as both nurturing mother and scream queen, along with tons in between.
Wallace shared that she feels lucky that “I wasn’t put in a cubby hole,” like many other actresses in her orbit.
“I was able to go back and forth from sitcoms like Together We Stand and The New Lassie to really, really heavy, dramatic parts. And I appreciated that a lot,” she tells PEOPLE.
Dee WallaceCredit: Johanna Siegmann
“I joke a lot that I had to go to New Zealand and do The Frighteners to get me out of some of my mother roles because I did get pigeonholed there for a while after E.T., because being the mother in E.T. was such an iconic role. I did become everybody’s mother for a long time. And I’m proud of it,” she acknowledges.
She continues, “But it was good to hop over into that killer role for a while, as funny as that sounds. Actors want to be able to do everything, and I’ve been really lucky in my career to be able to do that, and I like that.”
Wallace knew she was destined for the stage and screen from a young age, taking inspiration from her mother. She recalls, “When I was a little girl, I came from a very poor upbringing, but my mom, who was a secretary by trade, was also a very beautiful local actress. And she performed a lot in our church and people from four states over would come to see her perform.”
Dee Wallace and Danny Pintauro in ‘Cujo’ (1983)Credit: Warner Brothers/Getty
“I was a little girl, like around eight years old. And I remember sitting in church and watching all these adults start crying, watching my mom perform,” she continued. “And I was so moved and I thought, ‘Wow, I want to do this. I want to make people cry and move them like my mommy does.’ And that was it. I never looked back.”
While the desire was there, it was fate that brought her to the path of her first role. “I got my start in Stepford Wives, and I got it waiting to interview for a receptionist job in New York. Bryan Forbes kept walking back and forth and back and forth and looking at me. And finally, he stopped and he said, ‘Are you an actor?’ And I said, ‘I am.’ ”
“He said, ‘You want to be in a movie?’ And I said, ‘I do.’ And that was it. I mean, it’s such a Hollywood story,” she continued.
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Wallace says she was impacted by the real experience watching everybody work on that set.
“Then I did a lot of commercials in New York and did some background work and stuff like that. And then when I came out to L.A. two years later, I did Streets of San Francisco and started doing a lot of TV work.”
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Dee WallaceCredit: Dee Wallace Archive
Sharing her thoughts on becoming enmeshed in the legacy of horror throughout the last four decades, Wallace notes, “I didn’t go looking for horror. Horror found me.”
“I guess, I’m just a really good screamer and crier. And that’s what it takes to do a lot of this horror-thriller stuff, you know?” she laughs.
Wallace points out that many different kinds of film are lumped within the horror genre and shares what she defines as horror.
“A good horror film, in my estimation, in my definition, has a solid story, and it takes time to develop the characters. It takes time to develop relationships and the interaction between those relationships,” she explains.
“So for me, Cujo wasn’t a horror film. It was a film about how far a mother would go for the love of her child, to protect her child. For me, that’s what it was always about. And really, if you break E.T. down, it’s the same theme,” Wallace continues. “It’s just told in different intensities and through different genres, but the theme is still about a mother’s love and protection for her child.”
“The Howling is a horror film, but for me it was always about the fight between the light and the dark, and which one’s going to win. So I guess I always look at the themes in kind of an elevated way,” she concludes.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
