A child actor who played a 'little Irish boy' in the Titanic movie has revealed he is still making money for his one-line role 25 years later.
Reece Thompson was just five-years-old when he played the part of a passenger who tragically dies alongside his mother in James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster.
He appears in three scenes of the smash-hit movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, and delivers just one line as turmoil ensues on the doomed ship, Belfast Live reports.
Nowadays, Thompson keeps his feet firmly on land, working as the digital marketing director at Brian Head Resort, a skiing and snowboarding centre in Utah.
The 30-year-old admits he doesn't remember much from his performance in the iconic film, which went on to gross almost £2 billion and is still the third-highest box office movie of all time.
However, the child actor is reminded of his part in the film each year as he still receives a couple of cheques now and again.
Thompson's career started out as a child model, signing with a talent agent after winning a contest.
The young boy's mother was asked to choose between Thompson starring in a petrol station ad or a chance to play a part in Titanic.
Although the advertisement was the safer bet, Thompson's mother decided to go for the role in Titanic.
"It turned out to be one of the highest-grossing films in history, so it's pretty bizarre in retrospect," Thompson told Business Insider.
"My mom was like: 'Let's just do it. It'll be cool. Even if the movie sucks, we'll see it.' Obviously, it ended up exploding, so that wasn't a bad decision on her part, that's for sure."
Thompson recalled struggling with his delivery of an Irish accent and said he attempted to copy his voice coach with little success.
He said: "If you listen to it, it doesn't sound very Irish," he said. "It just sounds soft-spoken. I remember trying to mimic what the speech coach was trying to do. That's as close as I got."
The Titanic actor was paid a set rate for his time on set, which amounted to about £22,000.
The money he made was invested for him and put into bank accounts which Thompson said has since been spent on his education, car and living expenses.
However, the actor said in the years after the release, he received cheques in the 'low thousands' for the role on a quarterly basis, but as time passed, this figure dropped to around £150 to £250 a year.
He said: "It's weird because it's not present in my mind anymore," he said. "It's not like, 'Oh, when am I going to get a new "Titanic" cheque?' When it happens, it's like, 'Oh, cool, an extra $100.'"
He added: "There have been a couple of times where it's been like: 'Oh, wow, that's a $250 check. This movie's 25 years old. That's pretty bizarre.
"But hopefully, they keep playing it a lot because that means more money for me."
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