You may not know dude’s name, but you most definitely know his face, that is, if you know anything about iconic 80’s films. Most of us, Old Schoolers, know him as ‘the kid from ET,’ or as “Elliot.” But in case some of our younger Old Schoolers need a refresher of who exactly, “Elliot” is, here’s a quick breakdown for y’all: He was the 10 year old kid who stashed an alien, E.T., in his closet and scared the hell outta his little sister, ‘Gertie’ (Drew Barrymore) when she first saw it. Elliot eventually helped his lost alien friend get back home to outer space to reunited with his alien parents, by throwing him on his bicycle and taking him to meet up with the spaceship. The rest is history. Moving on…

Okay, as of today, you are about to realize just how Old School we really are. Why? Because actor Henry Thomas a.k.a. “Elliot,” is now a 45 year man with kids of his own. We were over here, at ILOSM, wondering where in the world had “Elliot” disappeared to all these years and were pleasantly surprised to find out a few interesting facts about what he’s been up to lately. Check him out below.

“Elliot” Had Issues With E.T. Success

Henry had issues with the amount of success he garnered after E.T.. He admitted that it was really hard for him to adjust to the fame because he and his parents were just ‘normal’ people from San Antonio, Texas, who continued to live normal lives afterwards:

Via IMBD– Henry Thomas: “I grew up in a rural area, I was from kind of a poor family and my parents weren’t showbiz people. But going back was strange, and perhaps stranger for the other students.” [After E.T.] “I was getting a lot of hassles from the public. Everybody recognized me. […] Carloads of tourists would photograph the family mailbox, and there was weird mail, death threats. […] Of course there have been times I regretted being the kid in E.T.. My world went completely crazy. I was that stupid kind of famous, where you can’t go anywhere. […]It was like that for the first six months after E.T. was in cinemas. I’d go out and get mobbed. I was a shy kid, and being approached by adults all the time just freaked me out.”

He’s now learned to accept that his face will forever be synonymous with the E.T. legacy

Via USA Today– “When I was a teenager it was like, ‘They are going to call me Elliot again,’ ” Thomas said at a Los Angeles event to promote the 30th-anniversary edition of E.T., released on Blu-ray today. “But I have kids now. And everyone you meet, especially people close to my age, they all have very meaningful stories about seeing the movie the first time.””I’ve skipped the naming the last (project) I did,” said Thomas. “When people tell me I look familiar I just say, ‘I was the kid in E.T.’ That’s what they are thinking. They just don’t want to ask you.”

What He Does These Days

Here’s the thing family, although many of us may not have seen Henry in a minute, he actually never left the acting game and went on to have some great success after E.T.. He’s starred in a plethora films and TV shows, including Law & Order, CSI, and many more. His most recent film release is the 2016 thriller, Ouija: Origin of Evil and he’s currently filming a new movie titled, Gerald’s Game.

In addition to acting, Henry’s getting his rockstar-on. He has a rock N’ roll band called Far Speaker, where he’s the band’s guitarist, singer, and songwriter. They’re new album is slated for release this year (2017).

Henry’s Epic ‘E.T.’ Audition Tape

We just had to throw his E.T. audition tape in, because any kid who could do what he did in this video, deserves their shine…even decades later…

His Meeting w/ Michael Jackson

Thomas also talked about the first time he met Michael Jackson. They met on Universal Studios lot and were introduced by director, John Landis, as MJ was filming Thriller and Henry was filming Cloak and Dagger. He talks about that and a lot more in the video below…

And there ya’ have it ILOSM fam’- another kid actor all grown up. Thankfully, Henry Thomas managed to dodge the downward spiral bullet that so many other former kid actors fell victim to, including his E.T. co-star, Drew Barrymore (but he’s overcome those issues now).