Titanic actors still getting paid

You've probably seen Reece Thompson's face before, but we wouldn't be thinking that you would recognise him on the street.

Aged 5, Thompson made his film debut in the 1997 mega-hit Titanic. He played the character of the "little Irish boy" - a young third class passenger who tragically died with his mother and sister when the passenger liner sinks.

In the film, he appears in three scenes and has a line of dialogue.

These days, Thompson is 25 and works as a marketing director and although he doesn't remember much from his appearance in the box office smash hit Titanic, he still earns an annual sum of money from the movie.

He said he was paid a certain rate for his time spent on set then when the film became a massive hit (it raked in NZ$51 million in its opening weekend) he ended up earning around $40,000 NZD.

He still continues to receive residuals on a quarterly basis, and in the years following the film's release, his cheques were in the "low thousands". 

These days he tends to earn about NZ$275 to NZ$410 a year in residuals.

"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 NZ$300."

For Thompson and other actors in Titanic, the residuals will continue every year, as the smash hit continues to be popular over time.

"There have been a couple of times where it's been like, 'Oh, wow, that's a NZ$350 check. This movie's 12 years old, that's pretty bizarre,'" he said. "But hopefully, they keep playing it a lot, because that means more money for me.

You can watch him in the clip below!