25 March 2026<\/time>\n <\/p>\nE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’s Henry Thomas “wasn’t ready” for child stardom.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Henry Thomas as Eliott Taylor in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial<\/p>\n
\nThe actor thinks he handled his global fame “not very well” at the age of 10, following his breakout role as Elliott Taylor, who befriended the titular alien, in the 1982 family sci-fi blockbuster.<\/p>\n
\nAppearing on the latest episode of the It Happened in Hollywood podcast, Henry, 54, explained: “I don’t think I dealt with it very well because I wasn’t ready for it. I never foresaw it happening. <\/p>\n
\n“I was surprised when people recognised me for the first time. I never thought about being famous. It was very bizarre.”<\/p>\n
\nHenry felt there was “some obligation” to keep up his success following the release of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, but he thinks staying in his home state of Texas eased that pressure.<\/p>\n
\nHe added: “No one in LA, no agency would sign me because I was living in Texas, and my parents didn’t want to relocate.<\/p>\n
\n“They all said, ‘Well, that’s great that you’re working, but we don’t want to represent you unless you’re serious about this, and you’re going to come out to LA.<\/p>\n
\n“Then, of course, E.T. was number one in the box office for two weeks, and my phone started to ring, and all the people that had said, ‘You have to move to LA,’ were suddenly like, ‘Well, we’ll represent you, and you can live wherever you want.’<\/p>\n
\n“So it was a little bizarre.”<\/p>\n
\nThe star – who moved to Los Angeles in his mid-20s – admitted that people “forgot about me” and had to remind them he was “still alive” and “not 10 years old” in the years that followed the Steven Spielberg-directed movie.<\/p>\n
\nHenry added: “I just kept at it, and it mostly worked out. Sometimes I regret that decision, but most of the time, I’m pretty happy about being an actor.”<\/p>\n
\nAfter E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Henry appeared in the likes of Cloak + Dagger, and Frog Dreaming as a child, with recent years seeing him land roles in The Haunting of Hill House, and Pet Sematary: Bloodlines.<\/p>\n
\nBut he insists there is no method for how to be a successful actor.<\/p>\n
\nHenry said: “I’ve been on this roller coaster so long that I’ve had moments where everything has been great, and I’ve had moments where it feels like you can’t get arrested.<\/p>\n
\n“And I think you realise that we’re all in this together. We all get born, and we all die, and you don’t get a rule book.<\/p>\n
\n“So every day is a blessing.”<\/p>\n
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