14 January 2023 , 10:00
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Reece Thompson, who is best known for his role in Titanic as the 'Irish little boy' has shared that he's still making money from the role - despite it being released 25 years ago.
Titanic is set to celebrate its 25th anniversary on January 23 2023, and to celebrate, the film will be remastered in 4K so viewers can watch it like never before.
When Reece took on the role, he was just five years old, and his part involved acting as a young third-class passenger who tragically dies alongside his mother and sister after the iceberg hits in the 1997 hit film.
Titanic is an incredibly popular film - and Reece starred in it when he was just five (20th Century Fox/Paramount/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)In the sad scene, he, his mother, and his sister were among many other passengers waiting for the third-class main gate to be open, yet the family never made it to the lifeboat and were later seen in their cabin where the trio died together.
His part in the film may have been small, but it was important nonetheless as it reflected the position that many third-class passengers faced, who died in the tragedy.
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Today, Reece is the digital marketing director at Brian Head Resort, a skiing and snowboarding facility in Utah, and surprisingly, he said he doesn't remember much about his role when he was a youngster.
However, he is reminded of his part every year when he receives his royalty cheques.
Reece's acting career started out as a child model, signing with a talent agent after winning a contest.
That agent gave his mother the choice between two roles for Reece - starring in a petrol station ad or a chance to play a part in Titanic, and the rest is history as he appeared in the second highest-grossing movie of all time.
Reece's job is a far cry from his Titanic days"It turned out to be one of the highest-grossing films in history, so it's pretty bizarre in retrospect," Thompson told Business Insider.
"My mom was like: 'Let's just do it. It'll be cool. Even if the movie sucks, we'll see it.' Obviously, it ended up exploding, so that wasn't a bad decision on her part, that's for sure."
While in the immediate years after the film came out he thought about the money that was coming his way, these days the cheques he receives are a surprise.
He said: "It's weird because it's not present in my mind anymore," he said. "It's not like, 'Oh, when am I going to get a new 'Titanic' check?' When it happens, it's like, 'Oh, cool, an extra $100.'
"There have been a couple of times where it's been like: 'Oh, wow, that's a $250 check. That's pretty bizarre,'" he said. "But hopefully, they keep playing it a lot because that means more money for me."
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