Henry Thomas says he’s still recognized by strangers — 30 years after playing the BFF of a memorably wide-eyed alien in Steven Spielberg’s 1982 movie, “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.”
They’re just perhaps a little less ecstatic than when he was that pinch-his-cheeks-cute kid named Elliott (opposite a very young Drew Barrymore).
“Most people come up and say, ‘Are you that guy from E.T.?’ and I say, ‘Yeah.’ Then they go, ‘Oh, cool; we thought it was you’ — and they walk off,” says Thomas, currently starring in his first regular television role, TJ Karsten, the brain-damaged son of real estate magnate Thatcher Karsten (James Cromwell) on the ABC drama “Betrayal.”
“I’m like the guy that checks the IDs in front of the bars,” Thomas jokes. “They just need me to verify it for them. Then they’re happy and move on.”
Thomas, 42, appreciates that his emotional role as E.T.’s rescuer both launched his career and left a lasting impression for many. “It’s great; it’s done wonders for me, and it still does,” he says. “It’s a film that most people enjoyed seeing when it came out and still watch occasionally with their kids. So, you know, it’s hard to feel bad about that.”
Thomas’ film resume includes numerous indie projects, as well as the 1994 Brad Pitt drama “Legends of the Fall” and Martin Scorsese’s 2002 epic “Gangs of New York.” His latest movie, “Big Sur” — in which he plays beat poet Jack Kerouac’s pipesmoking friend Phil Whalen — is in theaters now.
He’s also guest-starred on TV series like CBS’s “The Mentalist” and “CSI.” But Thomas, a married father of three who lives in LA, wasn’t always sure he was a good fit for television.
“I’m a little crooked-looking; I’m not the perfect, cookie-cutter kind of TV guy,” he says, laughing. “Kathy Bates told me once, ‘When are you going to stop doing these crookedly-handsome roles?’ ” (They worked together on the 1994 film “Curse of the Starving Class.”)
Thomas even read for the part of meth-dealing teacher Walter White on AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” a part that ultimately went to Bryan Cranston. “Yeah, that’s my big thing. It could’ve been me!” he jokes.
On “Betrayal,” he first auditioned for the key role of Jack McAllister, the attorney at Thatcher’s law firm who has an affair with photographer Sara Hanley (Hanna Ware). That character went to actor Stuart Townsend, but Thomas was asked back to test for TJ, which he calls a “serendipitous” move.
“I guess I’m a weird former child actor, an independent film kinda guy, and thought they’d never hire me. It’s the first time I’ve had anything resembling a steady job in my life and been able to invest myself in a character for a long time,” he says. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
Now he’s focused on portraying TJ as a damaged but fully-formed figure who grows more defiant of his controlling father every week.
“To quote Bruce Springsteen, the calliope comes crashing down. TJ wants to break out and is getting stronger,” he says. “You see a little bit of the wizard behind the curtain more and more as the story progresses and he comes into his own.”
Thomas wants the ratings-challenged series to stick around past its freshman year because he feels bonded to the character. “There are so many opportunities that haven’t been explored yet,” he says. “It’s just artistic curiosity.”
(ABC hasn’t made an official announcement yet about its renewal.)
But even if “Betrayal,” which airs at 10 p.m. Sunday, ends after this season, he says there’s plenty of work available for a former child actor who’s not fussy about the venue.
“I could see myself working more in TV, although I’m really motivated by characters and story more than anything else,” he says. “For me, if I like the character, it could be, like, dinner theater in a retirement home in Florida, and I would still be having fun.”