25 years on, ‘little boy’ from Titanic still gets royalties for his minor role in the James Cameron classic

And Titanic is back in the news! Reece Thompson - who appeared as a child actor in the James Cameron classic, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio - is still receiving royalty cheques for his minor role in the epic romance and disaster movie, released over 25 years ago.

Currently a digital marketing director in Utah, the then little Reece played the character of an Irish third-class passenger in what is considered one of the world’s most iconic films. He was just about five years old when the film hit the theatres.

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If you can recall, the child actor appeared in a tragic yet memorable scene, where as the ship was fast filling with water, he and his mother and sister were lying in their cabin, after they failed to find a place in the lifeboat. Reece’s character only had a one-line dialogue in the movie. “What are we doing, Mommy?”, he asked his mother. And to that, she replied, “We’re just waiting, dear. When they finish putting first-class people in the boats, they’ll be starting with us, and we’ll want to be ready, right?”

Recently, while speaking to Australia’s Network 10 about the royalty payment, Reece said, “Yeah, I still do [receive royalty cheques], it’s true. But I haven’t updated my address in several years. Honestly, since the last time I got interviewed for this. So, I haven’t seen them [the cheques] in a few years. I’m just assuming that they are still coming.”

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The James Cameron masterpiece was based on accounts of the British passenger liner, RMS Titanic, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912 after hitting an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The film also featured actors Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, Victor Garber and Bill Paxton. Titanic went on to win 11 Oscars, among other prestigious awards.