Child actor who still gets paid for heartbreaking Titanic role explains why he’s stopped cashing in royalty checks

It may have been over two decades since Titanic hit screens, but one of the flick's stars is still getting a bit of pocket money despite only starring one in scene.

Child actor Reece Thompson was only five when he played a minor character in the 1997 disaster movie.

A young Thompson features in one of the most heartbreaking scenes of James Cameron’s tragic romance, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead roles.

If you’ve seen the film, you might remember Thompson as a young, third-class Irish passenger who’s waiting with his mom and sister to be rescued after the impact with the iceberg. As third-class passengers, the kid and his family weren’t a priority during the evacuation.

Thompson didn't even know what an Irish accent was back then. (20th Century Studios)

Thompson even has a line in the film, saying: “What are we doing mummy?”

“We’re just waiting, dear,” she answers. “When they finish putting first-class people in the boats, they’ll be starting with us, and we’ll want to be ready, right?”

Alas, they’ll never get to safety.

In a recent interview, Thompson, who now works as a digital marketing director in Utah, said he still receives royalties from his role, but he’s stopped cashing them for a very specific reason.

“Yeah, I still do [receive royalty cheques], it’s true,” he told Australia’s Network 10.

This is him now. (Studio 10/Facebook)

“But I haven’t updated my address in several years, honestly since the last time I got interviewed for this.

“So, I haven’t seen them [the cheques] in a few years. I’m just assuming that they are still coming.”

The former child star said he and his wife ‘get a kick out of comments’ about his involvement in the film, though he has no vivid memories of that time.

"It’s interesting, I’d say my family and I mostly just think that it’s interesting that people are still finding it interesting,” he said.

“[The comments] are mostly just interesting to read, but – yeah – it feels like a dream it was so long ago.

Titanic is his major acting role (20th Century Studios)

Albeit a small role, the job felt intense for Thompson, who had to pull an Irish accent on set.

"Honestly, it was probably that I just looked Irish enough for a casting director that I got the job,” he explained.

“I had an agent, so I guess that was kind of how it initially got started.”

Back then, he had no knowledge of what an Irish accent should sound like, so he did the best he could and went with it.

“My mum did tell me that before they cast me they hadn’t decided who was going to get the line, so I think it was kind of up in the air who was actually going to get to say that in the movie,” he said.

“I didn’t know what an Irish accent was at all, didn’t have any appreciation of it, so I just did as best as I could with what they gave me.”