Thompson once stole every scene he was in as a pint-sized firecracker with a mouth twice his size.
Now the former child star is trending again, but not for a punchline.
New photos making the rounds have fans doing double takes, because the kid from "Role Models" and "30 Rock" is a grown man now.
Thompson first blew up playing Tracy Jr. on "30 Rock," then went nuclear as Ronnie Shields in "Role Models," dropping lines that grown comedians couldn't deliver with a straight face.
He followed that with "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" and a steady run of TV gigs that kept him working through his teens.
Then the roles slowed down, as they so often do for child actors.
Thompson has been open about the awkward middle chapter, the auditions that dried up, and the pressure of being the funny kid everyone recognized but nobody quite knew what to do with once he hit puberty.
The recent buzz isn't about a comeback announcement or a scandal.
He looks different, he sounds different, and the internet cannot reconcile the man on screen with the tiny comedian burned into its memory.
Cue the usual mix of shock, nostalgia, and a few jokes about feeling old.
Thompson has handled the attention with the same humor that made him famous.
In past interviews he's talked about wanting to be seen as more than a childhood punchline, and about grinding through the quiet years the way most working actors do.
No meltdown, no bitter tell-all, just a guy who kept showing up.
Hollywood loves a child-star cautionary tale, and it loves a redemption arc even more.
He's just existing in public, which in 2024 apparently counts as a viral event.
There's also a nostalgic kick for anyone who grew up on mid-2000s comedy. "Role Models" still holds up, and his scenes are a big reason why.
Watching that movie now hits differently when you realize the kid cracking those jokes is pushing thirty.
Whether this moment turns into bigger roles or fades back into the algorithm is anyone's guess.
But for a few days at least, the internet remembered why it fell for him in the first place.
It's a strange thing to grow up on camera and get judged for it twice, first as a kid and again as an adult.
Thompson seems to understand that better than most.
Final Thoughts
If nothing else, he's proof that surviving child stardom is its own kind of win.