Titanic actor who played little Irish boy still gets paid 25 years on

The former child star who played the young Irish kid in Titanic, revealed he was still being paid more than two decades after it was released. Nice little earner.

Reece Thompson was just five years old when he starred as the character known as 'Irish little boy' in the hit 1997 Hollywood blockbuster. You can see Thompson in action here:

His short but moving role saw him as a third-class passenger who would perish alongside his mother and sister when the ‘unsinkable’ ship hit an iceberg.

In one scene, the youngster can be seen standing with his mum and sister in a large group of third-class passengers waiting for the gate to the lifeboats to open.

Tragically, it wasn’t to be for the family - as we later see the three of them dead in their cabin.

Thompson's role was small and relatively insignificant to the film's plot, but highlighted the plight of many poor passengers on board the Titanic.

Paramount Pictures

Reece claims to remember only a little from his time on-set for the film, but each year a royalty cheque for a small sum reminds him in the Oscar-winning film.

He says his talent agent offered his mother two options: either star in an ad for a petrol station, or take a small part in 'a major motion picture'.

The ad was the safer option.

However, Reece's mother decided to put her child forward for the role in Titanic - now the third highest-grossing film of all time.

Reece told Business Insider back in 2018: "It turned out to be one of the highest-grossing films in history, so it's pretty bizarre in retrospect.

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"My mum 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."

The cheques that arrive each year add up to more than you might expect for such a minor part.

"It's weird because it's not present in my mind anymore," Reece 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.'

"But hopefully, they keep playing it a lot because that means more money for me."

Topics: TV and Film, Titanic

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]