What happened to Henry Thomas, the boy from ‘ET, the extraterrestrial’?

Speaking of broken toys, or child prodigies who came to nothing, it is a bit unfair to remember Henry Thomas (San Antonio, Texas, 1971). Although it is true that three decades have passed since his debut in ‘The Beggar’ (Jack Fisk, 1981), the label of Elliott, the boy from ‘ET, the Extraterrestrial’ (Steven Spielberg, 1982) has never been torn off, It is true that his filmography includes works that many actors would like for themselves. What happened to him after the role that launched him to fame as a kid?

At just eleven years old, Henry Thomas tasted success with what is one of Steven Spielberg’s best films, and one of the most memorable in film history. ‘ET, the extraterrestrial’ premiered in 1981 and became a true phenomenon, but we already know all that. We all fondly remember those scenes between little Elliot and the funny alien. But the real dramas resulting from this story would happen soon after in real life. at his age, Thomas was not ready for fameand the actor has confessed not feeling supported by his family.

“[E.T.] it was kind of a feeling [en los cines] for a few months,” Thomas said in an interview with San Antonio Current. “And it seemed like forever when I was a kid. He was in San Antonio, Texas, and people were like, ‘Oh my God! He’s the guy from ET!’ I wasn’t ready for that at 10 or 11.” And it is that children can be very cruel. “[Los niños] They called me Hollywood or ET… I had been typecast as that guy. I was always going to be that guy. And I just [quería] have friends and go to school and do normal things”told the actor years later.

The only more or less important recognition of his career was given to him by the music chain VH1, by including him in the Top 100 Greatest Child Stars. His typecasting has had curious episodes: for example, the next film in his career after ‘ET’ was ‘Misunderstood’ (Jarry Schatzberg, 1984), a remake of the film ‘Incompressed’ by Luigi Comencini. Curiously, the title of the film was incomprehensibly translated in Spain as ‘Elliot, my best friend’, adding Elliots to the tuntún in the filmography of a kid who dedicated the 80s to what he should: go to school and lavish little on the cinema. Although, as we have seen before, with a complicated relationship with his companions.

Even so, his relationship with the cinema continued. And it wasn’t bad at all! Not everyone can say that she has worked with Martin Scorsese (‘Gangs of New York’, 2002) or that she has been part of the cast of ‘Legends of the Fall’ (Edward Zwick, 1994) alongside Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins . Nevertheless, his return after overcoming childhood was not easy.

‘Valmont’ (Milos Forman, 1989), an adaptation of ‘Cruel Intentions’ by Choderlos de Laclos, could have been a good boost to his rentrée, but the same year ‘Dangerous Liaisons’, by Stephen Frears, was released, which adapted the same novel and that completely eclipsed Forman’s film. Thomas was then absorbed by television, where he came to embody a young Norman Bates in ‘Psycho 4: The Beginning’, and where he starred in several low-end telefilms until Zwick rescued him for the aforementioned ‘Legends of the Fall’, one of the best films of the 90s.

Be that as it may, neither this film, nor ‘Gangs of New York’, much less ’11:14: Fatal Destiny’ (Greg Marcks, 2003) have managed to restore lost fame. So, resigned to his fate, Thomas found solace in love and music. He was married to the actress Kelly Hill and later to the German performer Marie Zielcke, whom he divorced in 2007. And holding on to his guitar, founded his own rock band, The Blue Heelers, in the mid-90s, dissolved before the end of the century. However, Thomas has continued to compose lyrics and songs, and in 2004, the Finnish Mika Kaurismaki (brother of filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki) signed him so that, in addition to starring in the film, he would write four original songs for his film ‘Honey Baby’ together with British singer-songwriter Nikki Sudden. Both were preparing an album together, but Sudden passed away two years after the premiere of the film.

His career continued, of course. After participating in series such as ‘Betrayal’ (ABC) and in the History Channel miniseries ‘Sons of Liberty’, the true resurgence of Henry Thomas in front of the general public came from several factors: the horror genre, streaming and, above all, Mike Flanagan. Since the applauded ‘Ouija, the origin of evil’ (Flanagan, 2016), the filmmaker has signed him in all the movies and series he has been making, including two adaptations of Stephen King, ‘Gerald’s Game’ and ‘Doctor Sleep ‘, and the very successful Netflix series ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ (considered one of the best Netflix series ever) and ‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’. He too, more recently, ‘Midnight Mass’, also on Netflix. For many, the actor’s participation in these series has meant a reunion since his last most notorious works in the 90s.

Now, Thomas’s career is not without problems. In 2019, Thomas was arrested in Oregon for driving under the influence of drugs.specifically marijuana. Apparently, Thomas passed out in the driver’s seat as police approached his car.. When he came out, he refused to take an alcohol test, covering his mouth with his hand, for which he was arrested. They then asked for a urine sample and when he came out of the bathroom, he took out a container of clear liquid, probably toilet water. Thomas was released the next morning and initially pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Beyond this incident, it seems that Henry Thomas has regained the north in his professional career. And he’s even made peace with his legacy as the kid from ‘ET the Extra Terrestrial’.. The actor participated in the Christmas of 2019 in an Xfinity promotional campaign that gave us the meeting between Elliot and ET “Viewers will get everything they want from a sequel without destroying the beauty of the original film and the special place it has in people’s minds and hearts,” Thomas said in a statement after the spot premiered.