The 'Irish Little Boy' from 'Titanic' is still making money from the film

The Titanic is a fantasic movie, a classic love story that'll stand the test of time (unlike the ship itself).

Even if it's centred around the tragic fates of Jack and Rose, you get some sense of the scale of the event with James Cameron's 1997 film, which featured the ship sinking with a lot of people still on board.

On the ship, In the movie is a fantastically named cast member called 'Irish little boy', the young third-class passenger who dies along with his mother and sister after the iceberg hits.

Reece Thompson was the actor who played that role. He's now 25, which is crazy and should make you feel ancient. He has revealed that he still gets residuals from the small speaking role he had in the movie. Fair play lad.

Reece in Titanic. Credit: Paramount Pictures / 20th Century Fox

Overall, he earned about $30,000 from his appearance in the film, and while his quarterly residual cheques have become smaller as time has gone by, he still gets around $200 to $300 every year. Which is unreal considering he did the movie all those years ago and only had a few lines.

Now the digital marketing director at Brian Head Resort, a skiing and snowboarding resort in Utah, Reece won a contest at the age of five and gained an agent as a result.

That agent offered his mam the choice between two roles for Reece - an appearance in a petrol station ad or a shot at a role in 'a major motion picture'.

She chose the movie, Thankfully.

Reece confirmed as much when speaking to Business Insider recently stating; "It turned out to be one of the highest-grossing films in history, so it's pretty bizarre in retrospect," he said. "My mom was like: 'Let's just do it. It'll be cool. Even if the movie sucks, we'll see it.' Obviously, it ended up exploding, so that wasn't a bad decision on her part, that's for sure."

"It's weird because it's not present in my mind anymore," he said. "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.'"

Hats off to his mother in fairness, Hopefully he sends some of the money her way or at least pays for her petrol.

h/t Buissness Insider