Here’s what Henry Thomas, the ‘E.T.’ kid, looks like now — 40 years later

nypost.com:

child star in the 1980s and his work with the Oscar-winning director.Thomas told Yahoo! Entertainment that he met the “West Side Story” filmmaker, 75, after starring in the 1980 film, “Raggedy Man.”“‘E.T.’ was a Universal [Studios] film, and ‘Raggedy Man’ was a Universal film,” Thomas — who played a kid named Eliot who befriends an alien — said. “So by getting the part for ‘Raggedy Man,’ I was on the radar for people who were working at Universal.

And one of those people was Mr. Steven Spielberg.” The “Haunting of Hill House” star recalled producers telling Spielberg at the time, “We understand you’re looking for a kid [for ‘E.T.].’ Well, look at this kid.'”Thomas’s iconic audition tape (showing the then-nine-year-old crying his eyes out) has gone viral in the decades following the film’s release.“Honestly, I think I had the part before I went into the audition,” he said. “They created a scenario, and I did an improvisation and I got very emotional.

And then at the end of the audition, you hear someone say: ‘OK kid, you got the job.’ That was Spielberg.”“That’s the only time that I’ve ever gone into an audition and known that I had it before I left the room,” he added. “It kind of spoiled me because the first three auditions I ever went on, I got!

Which was not something that I should have banked on happening for the rest of my career.”Thomas has had steady work over the years, starring in 1994’s “Legends of the Fall,” 2002’s “Gangs of New York” and 2018 TV miniseries “The Haunting of Hill House.” “E.T.” became a huge success at the time, grossing over $350 million at the U.S.