ET's Henry Thomas On Talking With Star Wars' Mark Hamill On The Fall Of The House Of Usher Set - Exclusive
It's rare enough for a project to have one cultural icon on set, let alone two, but that was exactly the case during the filming of writer-director Mike Flanagan's upcoming horror miniseries "The Fall of the House of Usher," and the two stars in question — Henry Thomas and Mark Hamill — happened to each star in two of the biggest movies of all time.
Thomas starred as the boy who befriends and saves the titular character in 1982's "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," while Hamill first played Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope" in 1977. While both actors have gone on to play dozens of roles since their days as Elliott and Luke — Thomas most recently in the action-thriller "Crawlspace" and Hamill in the animated superhero series "Invincible" — their paths have finally crossed more than 40 years after the release their respective blockbusters in "The Fall of the House of Usher"
Based on the classic story and other works by literary legend Edgar Allen Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher" marks the seventh project Thomas has done with Flanagan. Along with the likes of actors Kate Siegel, Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood, and Annabeth Gish, Thomas has become a member of Flanagan's horror troupe who frequently appears in the filmmaker's projects. Starting with the director's horror thriller "Hush" in 2016, Thomas has also appeared in the Flanagan films "Gerald's Game" and "Doctor Sleep" and starred in the series "The Haunting of Hill House," "The Haunting of Bly Manor," and "Midnight Mass."
"The Fall of the House of Usher" marks Hamill's debut under the auspices of Flanagan and waiting on the set to greet the esteemed actor was none other than Thomas, and in an exclusive interview with Looper, he said he has deep admiration for his fellow actor.
Thomas says Hamill is the reason he wanted to become an actor
While discussing "Crawlspace," Thomas shared his memories of his first encounter with Hamill on "The Fall of the House of Usher." Naturally, "E.T." and "Star Wars" came up in conversation between the two actors on the set, even though Thomas promised to himself that he "wasn't going to bring it up."
"I told myself I wouldn't say anything about how Luke Skywalker was my hero and all of that stuff, and how 'Star Wars' changed my life, but the first words out of my mouth were something like that," Thomas said. "When I met him, I gushed and said, 'You're the whole reason I wanted to be an actor in the first place ... I wanted to be on Tatooine,' and he said, 'I'm so excited to meet you and so excited to be working with you,' and it blew my mind because ... growing up, certain iconic people, you never think you're going to meet, let alone work with them. That's one of the wonderful things about my experience in my career is that I've met a lot of those people that were my heroes."
As for what Hamill said to Thomas about "E.T.," the actor's memories are just a blur: "I can't recall exactly what he asked me about 'E.T.,' because I was still thinking, 'Oh my God, Luke Skywalker is talking to me,'" Thomas said, laughing.
"The Fall of the House of Usher," which is awaiting a release date, will stream exclusively on Netflix. Meanwhile, fans can see Thomas in "Crawlspace" — where he plays a plumber who uses his unique set of skills to fend off a pair of killers while trapped in cabin crawlspace — new on digital video from Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment.