Henry Thomas, who plays Elliott, the main character of one of the best sci-fi films of all time, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, almost bombed his audition and lost out on the role of a lifetime. He saved it with an incredible improvised scene that impressed Steven Spielberg so much that the legendary director cast him on the spot.
Thomas Wasn’t The Initial Choice
According to casting director Marci Liroff, who was in charge of finding actors for the movie, she and her team had “honed in” on a number of kids they wanted to play Elliott and his friends in the movie. Liroff explained that part of the casting process included having all the kids sit in a room and play Dungeons & Dragons with each other, just to see how they all interacted with each other. The boy they had in mind for Elliott wasn’t a good fit. She told the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,
It became clear in about three minutes that nobody liked this little boy. When you play a game, your true character comes out, and these kids just didn’t like him…It just showed that he was not ‘our kid.’
So, they went back to the drawing board in their search for Elliott. According to what Thomas told Today in 2012, his audition for the role started awkwardly, as he was a huge fan of Raiders of the Lost Ark and just wanted to talk to Spielberg about making that movie (he even showed up with a bullwhip on his belt). Eventually, Thomas read for the role, and, in his words, was "horrible. It was what happened next, when Spielberg came up with an idea to have Thomas improvise a made-up scene, that is the stuff Hollywood dreams are made of.
“You Got The Part, Kid”
Spielberg explained Premiere (via The Academy) how it all happened. They set up the scene for Thomas to react to his new buddy, E.T., getting taken away from him by the government. It's a scene that mimics the final act of the movie. Through tears and raw emotion, Thomas blew away everyone in the room with his acting. Spielberg said of the moment,
The improvisation was so heartfelt and honest that I gave him the part right there.
In the video of the audition, you hear Spielberg say from behind the camera, “Ok kid, you got the job.” With tears still streaming down his face, the nine-year-old Thomas smiled and realized immediately what that meant,
It was the only part of my career that I knew I had before I left the audition room.
It’s hard to imagine any other kid in the role, and though Thomas has had a solid career in Hollywood, there will never be a part as iconic as Elliott, and clearly he is still very proud of the movie, his role in it, and the audition that landed him in that spot.
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