Henry Thomas

Thomas was a child actor from San Antonio, Texas with only a handful of small film credits, including a supporting role in Raggedy Man, before his audition for Spielberg's next project changed the course of his young career.

His audition for Elliott made Spielberg cry; his performance made the world do the same, and child acting has rarely been this unguarded. He was cast after an improvised audition scene in which he was asked to pretend to say goodbye to an alien friend, a performance so raw that Spielberg reportedly decided on the spot he had found his lead.

He continued acting into adulthood, appearing in numerous film and television roles long after his breakout childhood performance, including later collaborations that reunited him with some of the same industry figures from his earliest work.