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.

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