Henry Thomas on E.T. Fame & Career Highs

0:00It's March 25th. This is entertainment and celebrity news today, powered by AI, your daily dose of celebrity buzz. Henry Thomas recently opened up about the sudden fame that hit him after starring in ET, the extra terrestrial, back in 1982. At just 10 years old, he played Elliott, the boy who befriends a stranded alien, longing to get home. The Steven Spielberg blockbuster took off fast, turning his life upside down within weeks as agents started calling nonstop. Thomas admitted he handled the spotlight poorly at first. He never expected it and the first time fans recognized him felt strange. The pressure to top that role was intense, so he stayed put in Texas for years, which he now sees as a smart move that kept things grounded. The film also starred a young Drew Barrymore as Elliott's sister Gertie, Robert McNaughton as his brother Mike, and Dee Wallace as their mom. It won Oscars and became an instant classic, but for Thomas, it marked the start of a rollercoaster career with highs and lows.

1:00Since then, he's kept working steadily in films like Legends of the Fall in 1994, Gangs of New York in 2002, and Dr. Sleep in 2019. On television, you've seen him in shows such as The Haunting of Hill House in 2018, Better Things in 2017, and The Haunting of, Bly Manor in 2020. He has no big plan, just shows up and rides the cycles. The ET cast still connects now and then, like when Thomas, McNaughton, and Wallace joined Barrymore on her talk show in 2022 for the films, 40th Anniversary. It's a reminder that those early magic moments keep echoing through their lives.