The curious forgotten story of Henry Thomas, the boy who befriended E.T.

In the history of cinema, there have been films that have earned both critical acclaim and box office success. Among them is E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, directed by the renowned Steven Spielberg and starring a then-10-year-old Henry Thomas.

Elliott: the boy who helped E.T. get home

It has been 41 years since the film’s release, and in that time, the young actor has grown up. However, the pressure of that role and the fame that came with it ultimately weighed on him. He has previously admitted that he regrets taking part in the film: “I regretted playing that role many times.”

In fact, he spent months hiding at home due to the overwhelming attention of being one of Hollywood’s most recognizable faces. “I would go outside and get harassed. I was a shy kid, and being approached by adults all the time scared me. So I stopped going out. I became a hermit at 11,” he told the Daily Mirror.

Did you know? Spielberg refused a sequel to this ’80s classic movie

‘Elliott’ returns with Brad Pitt

The pressure of playing Elliott kept him off the screen for more than a decade, but he eventually returned. His comeback role came in Legends of the Fall, where he shared the screen with Brad Pitt. Later, he starred in Gangs of New York, Ouija: Origin of Evil, and Gerald’s Game, among other films.

Hollywood came calling again, leading him to new opportunities on television. He landed a role in The Haunting of Hill House, which brought him back to fame. It was a role he enjoyed, and he remains deeply grateful to its director, Mike Flanagan, with whom he has collaborated on several projects. “I owe Mike. He considered me when it felt like the world had forgotten me. As Elliott would say: He came to me,” Thomas said in a recent interview.

Despite the isolation that followed E.T., the film that made him famous has never been far from his mind. That’s why he had no hesitation in starring in a Macy’s holiday commercial, A Holiday Reunion, where he once again appeared alongside cinema’s most beloved extraterrestrial.

Where is E.T.’s Elliott now?

Acting has always been Thomas’s strength, and now he is back on screen in Netflix’s latest release, The Fall of the House of Usher. The series, expected to be one of the standout shows of the season, is directed by none other than his long-time supporter, Mike Flanagan.

With this collaboration, it seems Thomas is finally experiencing the youth that was taken from him by the pressures of being “the kid from E.T.”

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