E.T.’s Henry Thomas Gives Rare Interview on Child Stardom Difficulties

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Henry Thomas found his alien encounter to be a difficult one.

Following the 1982 hit movie E.T., the young actor who played Elliot, the alien’s friend, quickly became famous. However, looking back, Henry says he struggled with the sudden attention.

He admitted on the It Happened in Hollywood podcast on March 24th that he was caught off guard by his fame. He never expected people to recognize him, and was genuinely surprised when they did.

The 54-year-old admitted he never sought fame and found the whole experience quite strange. Despite this, he felt driven to keep going and improve his work.

It was especially difficult for Henry because he lived in Texas with his family. Agencies weren’t interested in representing him before he appeared in the Steven Spielberg movie, as his family didn’t want to move.

He remembered that after E.T. became the top movie for two weeks, his phone began ringing constantly. Suddenly, all the people who had previously told him to move to Los Angeles were eager to represent him, saying he could live anywhere he chose.

He remained in Texas until he was in his mid-20s, after which he moved to New York and then Los Angeles, all while continuing to work in film. He playfully admitted to having been involved in both successful and unsuccessful projects.

Henry explained that people often overlooked him during his work, and he frequently had to gently remind them he was still active and capable, not a child. He simply persevered, and for the most part, things turned out well.

You know, reflecting on my career, I can honestly say I’m usually pretty content with being an actor. It’s a good life, and I feel lucky to do what I do.

After being famous for a long time, Henry has seen both the highs and lows of the entertainment world.

Oh my gosh, he said it! He admitted there have been times when everything just clicked, when he was totally on top of the world! But then, he also confessed to feeling completely lost, like nothing was going right, you know? Like he was just… doomed. It’s so real, and it breaks my heart, but it also makes me love him even more because he’s so honest about it all!

But despite the ups and downs of his career, Henry doesn’t regret any of his choices. 

He admitted he might have chosen a different path if he’d focused more on his career, but added that he simply wasn’t very interested in doing so.

For a look at what more of your favorite child stars are up to now, keep reading. 

Jonathan Taylor Thomas became well-known in 1991 for his role as the intelligent and lovable middle child, Randy Taylor, on the show Home Improvement. Throughout the 1990s, he also appeared in several films, including voicing young Simba in The Lion King (though a different actor provided the singing voice) and starring alongside Brad Renfro in Tom and Huck (1995) and Devon Sawa in Wild America (1997).

I was absolutely devastated when Jonathan Taylor Thomas left Home Improvement back in ’98 – I mean, Randy going off to Costa Rica? Heartbreaking! But honestly, I totally get it. He wanted to focus on his education, which is amazing, and he didn’t just disappear! He kept acting while he was in school, squeezing in projects whenever he could. It was like, yes, he was growing up, but he wasn’t giving up on everything we loved him for, and that made me so happy!

In 2004, he played a recurring character on 8 Simple Rules. Then, in 2013, he worked with Tim Allen again – this time directing and appearing in multiple episodes of Last Man Standing, where Allen played his TV dad.

Even though Jonathan Taylor Thomas stepped away from acting to focus on his personal life – he graduated from Columbia University in 2010 – he still manages to generate buzz. Whenever the paparazzi catch a glimpse of him, photos quickly spread online.

Macaulay Culkin isn’t the only child actor who made a big impression early on. At just six years old, Jonathan Lipnicki held his own against Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire, delivering some truly memorable lines. He continued to appear in popular films like Stuart Little, Doctor Dolittle (as the voice of Baby Tiger), The Little Vampire, and Little Mike, even making a guest appearance on Dawson’s Creek. However, he stepped away from acting to enjoy a typical high school life.

In 2017, actor Jake Lipnicki shared on Instagram that he was bullied during middle school, hoping his story would help others going through similar experiences.

He was severely bullied as a child, and surprisingly, some of those same kids later tried to connect with him on Facebook. He remembered being told he’d never work again, and this led to nightly panic attacks as he dreaded facing more embarrassment. Despite everything, he persevered and now feels grateful for his life, hoping to share a message of hope: things do improve.

Even now, he continues to act, most recently appearing in the 2023 Lifetime movie Secrets at the Museum. Originally from Los Angeles, he’s also a skilled martial artist with a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. In May 2021, he volunteered to help protect a local synagogue after a surge in anti-Semitic incidents.

Wilson starred in Mrs. Doubtfire at 6 and Matilda at 9 before putting acting on the back burner.

Lena Dunham, known as a writer and activist, published her memoir, Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame, in 2016. She’s also appeared on the show Broad City and lent her voice to several animated series, including BoJack Horseman, Big Hero 6: The Series, and Helluva Boss.

Wilson remembers a former friend once cheerfully asking her, ‘Do you realize you’ve already reached the best part of your life?’ She didn’t know what to say at the time, but now she understands that was the wrong way to look at it. She hasn’t peaked, because she’s no longer letting others define her story – she’s taking control and writing it herself, as she explained in a February 2021 opinion piece for The New York Times about the challenges of early fame for young women.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt had already been acting for years when he landed the role of Tommy Solomon on 3rd Rock from the Sun. The sitcom began in 1996, when he was 14 years old, and that same year he also appeared as Demi Moore’s son in the thriller The Jury.

He quickly became known for a variety of roles, including the charming love interest in the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You, a street-smart character in 2004’s Mysterious Skin, and a determined teenage detective searching for his missing ex-girlfriend in the 2005 neo-noir film Brick.

Even though he looked young well into his twenties, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has had a successful career playing adult roles in films like 500 Days of Summer, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Inception, 50/50, The Dark Knight Rises, Looper, Lincoln, Don Jon (which he also wrote and directed), and Snowden. More recently, he portrayed real-life figures, including a prosecutor in The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) and Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick in the series Super Pumped.

He quietly married Tasha McCauley in 2014 and they share three children.

Natalie Portman gained recognition early in her career for her remarkably mature performance in the 1994 film The Professional, and she’s continued to deliver impressive work ever since. Starting with that memorable debut, she’s appeared in a wide range of successful films, from big-budget blockbusters like the Star Wars prequels and the Thor and Avengers movies, to critically acclaimed independent films like Beautiful Girls and Garden State. She’s also shown her versatility in comedies such as Mars Attacks! and Your Highness, powerful dramas like Closer and Brothers, and thrilling, thought-provoking films like V for Vendetta and Annihilation.

Natalie Portman won an Academy Award for her performance as a ballerina struggling with mental health in the 2010 film Black Swan. She received another Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Jacqueline Kennedy following her husband’s assassination in the movie Jackie. In 2015, she directed her first feature film, A Tale of Love and Darkness, which was based on Amos Oz’s autobiographical novel.

She married Benjamin Millepied, the choreographer she worked with on Black Swan, in 2012, and they have two children: a son named Aleph and a daughter named Amalia. They divorced in 2024.

Cameron Jones is best remembered for playing the son of Jon Cryer’s character – a down-on-his-luck divorcee – and the nephew of Charlie Sheen’s character on the popular early 2000s sitcom, Two and a Half Men. In 2012, a video appeared online of Jones criticizing the show, calling it inappropriate. The video was actually part of a 15-minute religious speech he gave for Forerunner Chronicles, a Seventh-day Adventist ministry based in Alabama.

Jones later apologized for not showing enough respect to his coworkers and for not fully recognizing how fortunate he was to have the opportunity he’d been given.

The actor soon left the series, but returned for the finale in 2015.

During his last season on the CBS sitcom, actor Jones reportedly earned $350,000 per episode. He recently told KHOU in Houston that he felt the show trivialized serious real-world issues, and he admitted to feeling like a ‘paid hypocrite’ for participating despite his discomfort with the subject matter.

Before a small, unconfirmed role in the 2023 Max series Bookie, his most recent acting work was in Louis C.K.’s 2016 limited series, Horace & Pete.

Jones described his time at the University of Colorado at Boulder as a normal period in his life, as he shared with People magazine in 2016. He explained that he used to be very pessimistic, but now he’s enjoying life and feeling much more relaxed. He said he no longer feels like he’s constantly walking on eggshells.

Daniel Radcliffe has successfully moved beyond his role as Harry Potter by taking on a wide variety of challenging parts. He’s proven his range on stage in plays like Equus and The Cripple of Inishmaan, in the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and in films like Kill Your Darlings, where he played Allen Ginsberg, and the quirky Swiss Army Man. He’s also showcased his talent on television, notably as a doctor struggling with opioid addiction in A Young Doctor’s Notebook.

Recently, he finished four seasons on the show Miracle Workers, starred as Weird Al Yankovic in the biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, and performed on Broadway in Merrily We Roll Along.

On a personal note, Radcliffe is dad to a son with longtime partner Erin Darke.

Jodie Foster began her acting career at age six with a role in the Mayberry R.F.D. series, a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show. At fourteen, she received her first Academy Award nomination for her performance in Taxi Driver, where she played a young girl exploited by a dangerous man. This role was central to the film’s plot and motivated Robert De Niro’s character to act violently. That same year, 1976, she also starred in the original Freaky Friday, a much lighter role that helped establish her as a popular child star.

Jodie Foster balanced her studies at Yale with her acting career. She achieved a breakthrough role—and won her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress—in the 1988 film The Accused, where she played a woman who bravely pursued legal action after a brutal assault, only to find herself unexpectedly on trial herself. In 1991, she directed her first feature film, Little Man Tate, and the following year, she won the Best Actress Oscar for her compelling performance as a determined FBI trainee in The Silence of the Lambs.

The actress and filmmaker received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for her lifetime achievements at the 2013 Golden Globes. More recently, she’s focused on directing for television, having directed episodes of popular shows like House of Cards, Black Mirror, and Orange Is the New Black. In the 2000s and 2010s, she appeared in films such as Panic Room, Inside Man, Elysium, Hotel Artemis, and The Mauritanian, for which she unexpectedly won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in 2021.

She has two sons with her former partner, Cydney Bernard, and she married photographer and director Alexandra Hedison in 2014.

It’s not surprising that veteran actress Jodie Foster took Kristen Stewart under her wing while filming the 2002 thriller Panic Room, where they played mother and daughter. Like Foster, Stewart has had a complicated relationship with fame, but it’s been amplified by the internet since she rose to prominence at around age 16 with the highly sought-after role of Bella Swan in the Twilight series.

In a 2019 interview with Stellar magazine, Kristen Stewart recalled that Jodie Foster didn’t believe she’d stick with acting. Stewart clarified this wasn’t a judgment of her skills, but rather a reflection of Foster’s own down-to-earth personality. “I enjoy what I do,” Stewart said, “but I get why she’d have thought that about me when I was younger. I adore her.”

Since finishing the Twilight movies, the actress and Chanel brand ambassador has continued to work steadily. While she briefly tried to reboot Charlie’s Angels in 2019, she’s mostly chosen smaller, more personal films. These include The Clouds of Sils Maria, for which she made history as the first American actress to win a César Award (a major French film prize), the unsettling drama Personal Shopper, and films inspired by real people, like Seberg and Spencer.

Following her public relationship with Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart began dating women and later married Dylan Meyer in 2025.

Long before Josh Brolin became famous for his role as Thanos in the Marvel movies – the character who famously snapped his fingers and eliminated half of all life – he began his acting career as a teenager. In 1985, he played the older brother, Brandon Walsh, in the classic adventure film The Goonies. He portrayed Brandon as a cool, patient, and caring sibling.

Brolin continued to appear in many films, including Flirting With Disaster, Mimic, and No Country for Old Men, which won the Best Picture Oscar and helped revitalize his career. He also starred in American Gangster, W. (where he played George W. Bush), and Milk, earning an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Dan White, the man who killed Harvey Milk. Other notable roles included Jonah Hex, True Grit, Sicario, Deadpool 2, and the massive hits Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, where he played Thanos using CGI. More recently, he’s appeared in the sci-fi film Dune, with parts one and two released (or soon to be released).

Josh Brolin has two children with his first wife, Alice Adair. He was then married to Diane Lane from 2004 to 2013. He married Kathryn Boyd in 2016, and they have two daughters together: Westlyn Reign Brolin, born in 2018, and Chapel Grace Brolin, born in December 2020.

She started her acting career at around age 10, appearing in films with Cher and Winona Ryder. She first appeared in the 1990 movie Mermaids, and the following year, she starred as the delightfully gloomy Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family.

Christina Ricci continued to gain recognition in the 1990s with roles in films like Casper and Now and Then. She then built a career playing complex characters in movies such as The Opposite of Sex, Buffalo ’66, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Sleepy Hollow, Prozac Nation, Pumpkin, and Monster. In Monster, she portrayed the girlfriend of serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a role famously played by Charlize Theron, who won an Oscar for her performance.

For the past three decades, Christina Ricci has consistently chosen bold and unconventional roles. From playing a stylish flight attendant in the TV series Pan Am to enduring extreme circumstances in Black Snake Moan, and portraying captivating historical figures like ax murderer Lizzie Borden in The Lizzie Borden Chronicles and author Zelda Fitzgerald in Z: The Beginning of Everything, Ricci has consistently embraced challenging and fascinating parts.

Ricci has two children: a son named Freddie with her former husband, James Heerdegen, and a daughter named Cleopatra with her current husband, Mark Hampton.

In October 2021, Yellowjackets actress Melanie Lynskey married hairdresser Mark Hampton. That December, they welcomed their daughter, Cleopatra.

Macaulay Culkin became a huge star with just one scream in Home Alone when he was only ten years old, but he’d been acting in TV movies and films like Uncle Buck and Jacob’s Ladder since he was around five. He took a break from acting after Ri¢hie Ri¢h in 1994, but has returned to it occasionally, often appearing in smaller, impactful films like Party Monster and Saved. He’s also pursued music and painting.

Macaulay Culkin, known for his voice work on Robot Chicken and a cameo as a barista on The Jim Gaffigan Show, is set to appear in the tenth season of American Horror Story, scheduled to premiere in 2021, assuming pandemic safety measures are in place.

The actor is engaged to Brenda Song and they have two sons. Their first son, Dakota Song Culkin, is named after the actor’s sister, Dakota, who tragically passed away in a car accident in 2008. Their second son, Carson, made his first public appearance at his father’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on December 1, 2023, when he was just one year old.

Kieran Culkin started his acting career with a memorable role as Fuller, Kevin McCallister’s cousin who loves Pepsi, in the popular movie Home Alone, which also starred his older brother.

Best known for his roles as a teen in films like Father of the Bride, She’s All That, Igby Goes Down, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, he completely transformed his image with his award-winning performance as the sharp-tongued Roman Roy on the show Succession.

In 2025, Kieran had a breakthrough year, culminating in an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film A Real Pain.

He and his wife, Jazz Charton, have three children: Kinsey Sioux, Wilder Wolf, and a new baby who was announced in September 2025 by Kieran’s Succession co-star, Sarah Snook.

Dakota Fanning’s career has seemed to jump quickly from playing young versions of characters in shows like Ally McBeal and the movie I Am Sam to a starring role as a pioneering female detective in the historical drama The Alienist. However, that transformation wasn’t quite so instant.

For over 20 years, she’s consistently delivered strong performances in a variety of films, including Uptown Girls, Man on Fire, Hide and Seek, War of the Worlds, Charlotte’s Web, The Secret Life of Bees, three Twilight movies, American Pastoral, and Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood. Notably, she portrayed Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson.

Dakota Fanning acted alongside her sister Elle Fanning in the movie The Nightingale. She also received a Golden Globe nomination in 2025 for playing Marge Sherwood in the Netflix series Ripley.

Though she began her career playing a younger version of her sister Dakota’s character in the film I Am Sam – known as “Lucy 2 years” – Elle Fanning has since established herself as a unique and successful actress with her own distinct style.

I’ve been following Elle Fanning’s career for ages, and it’s amazing to see how far she’s come! She started out playing supporting roles in films alongside established actors – I remember seeing her in things like Daddy Day Care, Babel, and even popping up in different CSI shows, Criminal Minds, and House. Honestly, she was probably too young to even watch some of that stuff! But as she grew up, her roles became so diverse. She did heartwarming family films like We Bought a Zoo and Maleficent, then moved into young adult movies like Super 8. And it wasn’t just that – she tackled serious dramas like Trumbo and 20th Century Women, and even ventured into really dark and unique films like The Neon Demon and The Beguiled. It’s been incredible to watch her range!

She’s also taken on notable roles, portraying Mary Shelley in a movie about her life and Catherine the Great in the Hulu comedy series, The Great.

Since first becoming famous on Disney Channel’s Lizzie McGuire, the actress and singer has matured. She successfully transitioned from that role into popular family films like Agent Cody Banks, Cheaper by the Dozen, and A Cinderella Story.

After a period without major roles, Hilary Duff has been impressive in Younger, playing a complex coworker to Sutton Foster’s character—a woman pretending to be a millennial—in the popular TV Land series, which will return for a seventh season. While a spin-off focusing on Duff’s Younger character, Kelsey, sounded promising, many longtime fans were eager to see her reprise her role as Lizzie in a planned Disney+ reboot. Sadly, those plans for a revival have been cancelled.

She has since starred in two seasons of  How I Met Your Father.

Hilary Duff first married hockey player Mike Comrie, and they had a son named Luca. They divorced in 2014 after four years together. She then married musician Matthew Koma in 2019, and they have three daughters: Banks Violet, Mae James, and Townes Meadow, who was born in May 2024.

Candace Cameron Bure, younger sister of Kirk Cameron, became a style icon for many twelve-year-olds thanks to her role as D.J. Tanner, the responsible oldest daughter on the popular TV show Full House, which aired from 1987 to 1995.

She’s appeared in many TV movies, including some that tackled important issues. One notable example is the 1996 film No One Would Tell, which was based on the heartbreaking true story of a high school student murdered by her abusive boyfriend after enduring months of silent suffering. It’s a story that still resonates deeply.

Lately, Candace Cameron Bure has become a Hallmark Channel favorite. After co-hosting The View for two seasons and appearing in five seasons of the Netflix revival Fuller House with most of the original cast, she now stars in Hallmark’s popular Christmas movies and the Aurora Teagarden murder mystery series, which is based on novels by Charlaine Harris.

In 2021, she and her husband, former NHL player Valeri Bure, celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. They have three children together.

Jodie Sweetin, best known for playing Stephanie Tanner on the TV show Full House for eight seasons, faced challenges with drug and alcohol addiction. She openly shared her experiences in her 2009 autobiography, unSweetined.

Between 2002 and 2016, she was married three times, which often made headlines. A short engagement to Justin Hodak also drew public attention, especially after he violated a restraining order she’d obtained against him. In 2019, Hodak was sentenced to over six years in prison for possessing a dangerous weapon and providing false evidence.

Having been sober since 2008, the mother of Zoie and Beatrix returned to the world of the Tanner family in Netflix’s Fuller House for five seasons. She’s also appeared in numerous Hallmark Channel movies, such as the 2019 Christmas film Merry and Bright and the romantic comedy Just Swipe.

The character of Michelle Tanner on the popular TV show Full House was actually played by twin sisters, who started on the show as babies and grew into a recognizable 6-year-old. They then used their fame to build a successful business, launching movies, clothing lines, books, and more – creating a full-fledged empire for themselves.

Oh my gosh, after New York Minute in 2004, Mary-Kate kept acting for a while – she was even on Weeds for a season, and did those cool indie films like The Wackness and Beastly! But Ashley… well, she kind of stepped away from acting. Now, honestly, they’re both way bigger as fashion icons! They created The Row, which won a CFDA award, and Elizabeth & James – they’re total powerhouses in the fashion world, it’s amazing!

Ashley and her husband, Louis Eisner, welcomed their first child in 2023. Mary-Kate married Olivier Sarkozy in 2015, but they later divorced in 2020.

Before becoming a famous movie star, activist, and Oscar winner for The Revenant, Leonardo DiCaprio had a surprisingly humble beginning. In 1991, he played a homeless teenager named Luke who was taken in by the Seaver family on the TV show Growing Pains. Even then, DiCaprio had a youthful appearance, looking much younger than his actual age of 16, and he’d already been acting for years. He quickly gained recognition, earning his first Oscar nomination for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and became known for playing troubled young characters in films like A Boy’s Life, The Basketball Diaries, Marvin’s Room, and Romeo + Juliet.

He still kinda looked like a kid in Titanic, but at 22 he had reached full-on heartthrob status.

In the last ten years, Leonardo DiCaprio has appeared in critically acclaimed films including Inception, The Wolf of Wall Street, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, The Revenant (for which he finally won an Oscar for Best Actor), and Killers of the Flower Moon.

Accio, adulthood!

Emma Watson first gained fame playing Hermione Granger in the eight Harry Potter movies, but she’s continued to build a diverse career since then. She’s appeared in young adult films like The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Bling Ring, acted alongside Tom Hanks in The Circle, starred as Belle in the live-action Beauty and the Beast, and played Meg March in Little Women. Beyond acting, Watson uses her influence as a UN Goodwill Ambassador to support women and promote gender equality globally. She’s also worked as a model for brands like Prada and Burberry, co-founded a gin company with her brother Alex Watson, and pursued creative writing studies at Oxford University.

Neil Patrick Harris, originally from New Mexico, achieved early success with a Golden Globe nomination at age 15 for his first role in the 1988 TV movie Clara’s Heart. However, his career could have taken a different turn after starring as a teenage genius doctor in the dramedy Doogie Howser, M.D.—a possibility he playfully acknowledged by hilariously parodying himself in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.

After a period of slowing down due to working too hard early in his career in Hollywood, he stayed active in theater, appearing in three Broadway productions. Eventually, he landed the perfect television role as the charming Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, which earned him four Emmy nominations. In 2010, he was nominated for three Emmys and won two: one for co-producing the 2009 Tony Awards and another for a guest appearance on Glee.

This incredibly talented performer – a master of acting, singing, dancing, and magic – has hosted the Tony Awards four times, winning an Emmy for the show each time. He’s also hosted the Emmy Awards twice and the Oscars once, in 2015. In 2014, he won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Neil Patrick Harris and his husband, David Burtka, had twins, Gideon and Harper, through surrogacy in 2010. They got married in 2014.

She first gained fame as the adorable Olivia on The Cosby Show when she was just four years old. She then appeared in films like The Little Rascals and the Doctor Dolittle movies. In 2003, she starred in her own popular Disney Channel show, That’s So Raven, where she played a fashionable teen with psychic abilities. While on That’s So Raven, she also made guest appearances in other Disney Channel shows, including The Cheetah Girls, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Kim Possible, and Sonny With a Chance.

After her show ended in 2007, Raven-Symoné continued to appear on television, with roles in shows like American Dad, Nashville, State of Georgia, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Master of None, and Drunk History. She also had a recurring part on Black-ish and co-hosted The View for three seasons. In June 2020, she married Miranda Maday.

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2026-03-25 02:24