Keith David comes clean on whether Childs was The Thing

Keith David was one of the guests at Monster-Mania in Hunt Valley, Maryland. During a Q & A session with fans, the actor came clean about whether or not his character of Childs was The Thing…

Keith David is an esteemed and accomplished actor of cinema, theater and television. His iconic voice has been used in countless documentaries and video games. Perhaps one of his most famous roles to date has been Childs in John Carpenter’s remake of The Thing.

When the actor was participating in a Q & A session with fans at Monster-Mania in Hunt Valley, MD he addressed the long-standing fan theory that his character was actually the creature in The Thing. John Carpenter being a very smart director, in order to enhance the intensity of the quest to find this alien that is taking over people’s bodies, left it to audience conjecture as to the real identity of the being.

According to pundits on Reddit, which is a never-ending resource for speculation on themes in movies and character analysis there were two Things not one. Kurt Russell’s character of MacReady is supposedly Thing 1 while Thing 2 is Blair (Wilford Brimley) or what they term the “Reinfected Thing 2.” Basically, like The Terminator, MacReady is hunting Thing 2 to kill it so that he will be the last of his kind.

The entire thread can be confusing but it is believed that when Bennings’ dog licked him, that was ground zero for the original infestation. Since the parasitic lifeform can be passed through human saliva, Bennings drank from MacReady’s Scotch bottle. After this, MacReady can be seen drinking from the same bottle while recording his tape.

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MacReady then drank from Blair’s vodka bottle and the cycle was repeated, this time with Blair as the intended host. However, here is where the wildcard factor comes in. Thing 2 or the alien corpse that was recovered also infected individuals. Palmer is the result of that encounter. The thought process is that somehow Palmer also could have infected Blair as well.

The man who brought the character of Childs to life has other thoughts on the matter. David recalled that he and Kurt Russell played the last scene as if “both their characters weren’t The Thing.” Then they shot an alternate version where they were both unsure.

Obviously, the actor has been asked if Childs was The Thing, many times before. He pointed out the reason why this came about is because astute fans noticed that his breath couldn’t be seen when he was sitting around the fire talking with Kurt Russell in the closing sequence of the film.

In truth, his breath wasn’t noticeable because he was sitting next to the fire. The heat wouldn’t allow for the exhalation to be visible. Unfortunately, for everyone out there who believes that Childs was The Thing, the answer is “probably not” according to the actor.

What is your favorite Keith David performance? Let us know in the comments.