Elliott Taylor in the context of "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial"

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⭐ Core Definition: Elliott Taylor

Elliott Taylor is a fictional character in Steven Spielberg's 1982 science fiction film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Created by Spielberg and the film's screenwriter Melissa Mathison and portrayed by then 10-year-old Henry Thomas, Elliott serves as the main human protagonist who, along with his friends and family, helps the titular extraterrestrial return home. Thomas's performance earned widespread acclaim from critics and the public. The character has also appeared in various adaptations of the film, including a novelization and video games, as well as a short film sequel in which Thomas reprised the role.

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👉 Elliott Taylor in the context of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (or simply E.T.) is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial that he names E.T. who has been stranded on Earth. Along with his friends and family, Elliott must find a way to help E.T. find his way home. The film stars Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton, and Drew Barrymore.

The film's concept was based on an imaginary friend that Spielberg created after his parents' divorce. In 1980, Spielberg met Mathison and developed a new story from the unrealized project Night Skies. In less than two months, Mathison wrote the first draft of the script, titled E.T. and Me, which went through two rewrites. The project was rejected by Columbia Pictures, who doubted its commercial potential. Universal Pictures eventually purchased the script for $1 million. Filming took place from September to December 1981 on a budget of $10.5 million. Unlike most films, E.T. was shot in rough chronological order to facilitate convincing emotional performances from the young cast. The animatronics for the film were designed by Carlo Rambaldi.

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Elliott Taylor in the context of E.T. (character)

E.T. is a fictional character and the titular extraterrestrial from Steven Spielberg's 1982 film of the same name. Created by Spielberg and the film's screenwriter Melissa Mathison, E.T. seeks the help of a boy named Elliott (Henry Thomas) who, along with his friends and family, find a way to help E.T. return home. Since the film's release, the character has been and continues to be widely assessed as one of the greatest science fiction film characters of all time and is considered an icon of the genre. The character has also appeared in all of its other media, including books, video games, a theme park attraction and a short film sequel.

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Elliott Taylor in the context of Henry Thomas

Henry Jackson Thomas (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and had the lead role of Elliott Taylor in the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), for which he won a Young Artist Award and received Golden Globe Award, BAFTA Award, and Saturn Award nominations. Thomas also had roles in other films, including Cloak & Dagger (1984), Frog Dreaming (1986), Valmont (1989), Fire in the Sky (1993), Legends of the Fall (1994), Suicide Kings (1997), All the Pretty Horses (2000), Gangs of New York (2002), 11:14 (2003), and Dear John (2010). Thomas was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film for his role in the television film Indictment: The McMartin Trial (1997).

More recently, Thomas collaborated with filmmaker Mike Flanagan, appearing in the films Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016), Gerald's Game (2017) and Doctor Sleep (2019) as well as the television series The Haunting of Hill House (2018) (which earned him a Saturn Award) and its follow-up series The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020). In 2021, he had a main role in Flanagan's horror series Midnight Mass, and, in 2023, he starred as one of the Usher siblings in The Fall of the House of Usher (2023), also by Flanagan.

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Elliott Taylor in the context of Robert MacNaughton

Robert MacNaughton (born December 19, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Elliott's brother Michael in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, for which he won a 1982 Young Artist Award as Best Young Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. MacNaughton also played the lead role of Adam Farmer in the 1983 film I Am the Cheese, based on the young adult novel by Robert Cormier.

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