Episode 9: Why Henry Thomas Loves Spielberg/Williams

Henry Thomas has done a lot of great work since he broke into the world zeitgeist as the ten-year-old star of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in 1982. His credits include Legends of the Fall, All the Pretty Horses, and Gangs of New York, and he’s recently been a key player in Mike Flanagan’s repertory company in spooky Netflix series like The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass.

But he can never escape the shadow of that giant moon he famously flew in front of as a young boy on a bicycle—and for good reason. He gave one of the greatest, most authentic, and most moving performances by a young actor in Hollywood history, and his Elliott is one of the critical ingredients to what makes that film such a masterpiece. And today, at 54, Thomas doesn’t seem to mind reminiscing about E.T. at all, or answering even my silliest questions about his experience. (Just don’t ask him to sign one of his wordiest lines from the film!) I wanted a very special closer for the finale of this limited podcast series, and it doesn’t get much more special than the human soul of E.T., and a veteran at the heart of the Spielberg/Williams meditation on extraterrestrial life… here on the release day of Disclosure Day.

Read my recent appreciation of E.T. here:

Also, Vulture recently published an oral history of Steven Spielberg reported and written by friend of the pod, Bilge Ebiri. It’s a staggering read, and very entertaining. He got everybody!