He's best known as the the boy from ET, but actor Henry Thomas also has strong connections to Wales.

Thomas played Elliott in Steven Spielberg's 1982 classic alongside the iconic Extra Terrestrial.

And despite being born in Texas, the star actually discovered that his family come from Wales.

Thomas - who has a lead role in new Netflix horror The Haunting of Hill House - talked about his Welsh heritage during an interview with Lorraine Kelly on ITV on Monday.

He said: "A few years ago I actually tracked down my DNA progression and found out a lot of information about the family I didn't know.

"Because, we'd been in America a long time.

"Both my mother and father's family come from Wales - north and south."

(Image: ITV/Lorraine)

During the interview, Thomas also described his love of Swansea City Football Club and refereed to himself as a 'Stateside Jack'.

The star said he's keen on going to watch a Swansea City game in person the next time he's visiting Wales.

"I want them back in the Premier League," he says.

Lorraine replies: "I think it's wonderful that there's a little part of America supporting Swansea."

It isn't the first time Thomas has spoken about his Welsh roots.

Earlier this year, the star opened up to BBC Radio Wales’ Good Evening Wales , saying: “My family comes from different parts of Wales.

Show more

“My father’s side is from the north and my mother’s side is from Carmarthenshire.”

Thomas also tried his hand at speaking Welsh and said he was listening to learning tapes in the car and using phrases such as ‘ble mae’r toiledau?’ (where’s the toilet?) during trips to Wales.

“It comes in very useful”, he said.

Random Welsh mentions in Hollywood films

The Haunting of Hill House premieres on Netflix this month and is based on Shirley Jackson's 1959 horror novel of the same name.

GQ branded it one of “one of the best shows of the year” and “one of the most truly chilling of all time”.

You can watch Henry Thomas' full interview on the ITV Hub.