Titanic will forever be remembered as the movie that launched Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet into the realms of the Hollywood elite. For many people, it is one of the greatest films of all time; a heart-breaking epic about an ever-lasting love that blossomed out of truly tragic circumstances. For others, such as myself, it is a three-hour snooze fest in which a man dies in the sea due to the fact that his 'lover' was too selfish to move up a bit and let him lie with her on the bit of debris that she is floating on.
Whatever your opinion of Titanic, there's no denying the figures. The movie grossed $2,186,772,302 at the box office, making it the most commercially successful film of all time (until Avatar arrived in 2009), and it was also the most expensive movie ever created.
However, while Titanic has become synonymous with the careers of Leo and Kate, not much is actually known about the other characters that starred in the movie. What about the engine room crew, that band of violinists and all those Irish people who were having a good time in third class? What are they up to now?
Those of you with a good memory will more than likely remember the 'Irish little boy' who drowned alongside his mother and sister in what was probably the saddest scene in the movie (soz guys, but the death of Leo really didn't get to me). Well, it turns out that he is doing pretty well for himself and it still pocketing cash from his bit-part role in Titanic.
This is the scene Reece starred in that's had people bawling for years:
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Although he never had a name or a backstory in the movie, actor Reece Thompson has been busy pathing a new career since starring in Titanic. The 25-year-old is now a digital marketing director for a Utah based skiing and snowboarding resort. He said that he stopped acting when he was around 15 years old because he wanted to spend more time with his friends instead of travelling to auditions.
He earnt $30,000 (not bad for a five-year-old!) for his performance in Titanic, which he invested in his education, car and living expenses. Reece also still collects residuals from the movie on a quarterly basis. However, it could have all been very different for the young man if his mom hadn't pushed him into auditioning for the role.
"It turned out to be one of the highest-grossing films in history, so it's pretty bizarre in retrospect."
"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."
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Reece then revealed that while he personally doesn't feel a huge connection to the movie because he was so young when he appeared in it, Titanic is regularly brought up by his friends because of its enduring popularity.
"I remember I was living with one of my best friends up in Salt Lake, and we were just sitting outside, talking, and there were people walking by, and he says, 'Isn't it weird that most of these people have probably seen your face before but don't even know it?' And that kind of blew my mind. So many people have seen that movie."
Obviously, when people get to star in movies as big as Titanic, they try and get permission to take a prop home as souvenir, and to this day, Reece (well his mom) has the bear he was holding in the heartbreaking bed scene - a bear he said is an actual antique.
Related: Check out this rare deleted scene that James Cameron really should have left in:
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And on the subject of the famous bed scene, Reece said that that the initial plan was to fill the room with water, but it didn't happen because he couldn't swim.
"Every person who's ever found out - especially women who find out - that that was me in that scene, they always tell me that was the most heartbreaking scene, watching this mother having to, essentially, talk the kids to sleep in a genuinely terrifying moment. So from what I remember, it was only ever played that way. It didn't take that many times to take that one because it was just like, 'Look like you're falling asleep' - something I had mastered at five years old."
Reece has a lot to thank his mom for, as speaking to the Business Insider, the former-actor revealed that he still pockets $200 to $300 each year from his role in the movie.
"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 check?' When it happens, it's like, 'Oh, cool, an extra $100.'"
While $200-$300 may not sound like much, it's still enough to cover your Christmas shopping every year and I think we'd all happily take that.
Related: Take a tour of the Titanic's haunted shipwreck:
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