Henry Thomas makes a child’s concern for a strange companion convincing. We rate his Elliott in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for its practical affection, and his adult supporting work deserves attention beyond that early role.
Fi1m perspective
In E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Henry Thomas makes looking after a frightened alien seem like something a child would get on with, rather than an occasion to be wise. His Elliott is concerned with the visitor, and Thomas never asks us to admire the boy for being concerned. We were moved by that practical affection, because he made the unfamiliar creature seem like someone whose welfare mattered. It is a remarkably assured performance without the self-conscious solemnity that can make child acting hard work. Thomas gives Steven Spielberg the conviction the film needs to ask so much of our feelings.
He also has other children to play against, with Drew Barrymore’s Gertie and Robert MacNaughton’s Michael keeping the family funny and its members distinct. Spielberg allows the friendship to develop, and the creature’s convincing gentleness gives Thomas something to respond to. Our reservation is with John Williams’s score, which sometimes insists on feelings the acting has already earned. Thomas does not need that assistance; the affection is there without anyone announcing how touching it ought to be.
From the early 1990s, the work shifted towards adult supporting parts, including Samuel Ludlow in Legends of the Fall (1994) and Johnny Sirocco in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York (2002). A recurring partnership with writer-director Mike Flanagan began in 2016. It includes Gerald’s Game (2017), The Haunting of Hill House (2018) and Doctor Sleep (2019). The younger Hugh Crain in The Haunting of Hill House belongs to a recurring strand of family figures and authority characters in Thomas’s work. Flanagan’s repeated casting gives us a reason to look beyond Elliott, though the childhood performance remains the one we recommend most firmly.
Thomas deserves to be considered as a supporting actor without every appearance becoming a test of whether he can equal Elliott. That early performance sets an unusually demanding standard, but it should encourage curiosity about the adult work rather than close it off. Start with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for the acting, and allow the orchestra a little less credit.
Biography
Henry Thomas is an American actor. Born in San Antonio, Texas, he began his career as a child actor with a role in Raggedy Man (1981).
He gained prominence for playing Elliott in Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), winning a Young Artist Award and receiving nominations for a Golden Globe, BAFTA and Saturn Award. His later film roles include Samuel Ludlow in Legends of the Fall (1994), Johnny Sirocco in Gangs of New York (2002) and appearances in Dear John (2010) and Gerald's Game (2017).
Thomas has worked frequently with director Mike Flanagan, appearing in the series The Haunting of Hill House (2018), Midnight Mass (2021) and The Fall of the House of Usher (2023), as well as the film Doctor Sleep (2019).
