'Titanic's 'Little Irish Boy' Still Receives Royalty Checks

Titanic may be Jack and Rose's movie, but there are many additional characters who tugged at movie lovers' heartstrings when the flick first hit theaters in 1997.

Case in point: the little Irish boy from Titanic – Reese Thompson.

Just 5 years old at the time, Thompson captured the hearts of moviegoers when he played the role of a young, third class Irish passenger. One of the film's most gripping scenes came into focus when he and his on-screen sister were read a bedtime story by their mother as the doomed ship sank, with the implication that they were about to die.

It was a monumental scene for the film that wrecked audiences' emotions worldwide.

Twenty years after breaking box office records, Thompson recently revealed he now works as a digital marketing director for Brian Head Resort, a popular ski destination in Utah.

However, that's not his only source of income: Thompson still receives Titanic royalty checks from his role in the film.

"It's weird because it's not present in my mind anymore. 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,'" Thompson told Business Insider.

"There have been a couple of times where it's been like: 'Oh, wow, that's a $250 check.' This movie's 12 years old. That's pretty bizarre. But hopefully, they keep playing it a lot because that means more money for me," the former child actor joked.

Thompson also shared that he was originally paid around $30,000 for his role, which is a far cry from Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, who were allegedly paid $2.5 million and $2 million, respectively.

The funds Thompson received were safely placed in an account and used toward his education, car and living expenses.

As for Thompson's on-screen accent, he admitted it was tough to mimic Irish inflections as a kid.

"If you listen to it, it doesn't sound very Irish," he shared. "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."

Is this Thompson's approach to getting more views for the film and increasing his next royalty payout? If so, it's a good strategy!

Titanic is now streaming on Roku Channel, Showtime, Spectrum TV, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, Redbox and Apple TV.