When Billy Bob Thornton comes to mind, some think of a formidable performing career. Others think of vials of his ex-wife Angelina Jolie’s blood hanging around his neck. Both, it must be said, are admirable pursuits,
and certainly Thornton could never have been able to indulge his pseudo-vampiric idiosyncrasies if he wasn’t an incredibly talented and hard-working actor, writer, and musician.
Thornton was born on August 4, 1955 in Hot Springs, Arkansas to Billy Ray Thornton, a high school teacher, and Virginia Faulkner, a psychic. After performing with his band Tres Hombres in his youth, Billy Bob moved to Los Angeles in 1981 to pursue acting with his friend Tom Epperson, who would eventually become his writing partner. Thornton struggled in L.A., working a variety of menial jobs over a decade as he tried to find acting work. At one point he was so financially destitute that he suffered from myocarditis due to a diet that consisted almost exclusively of fried potatoes. He eventually landed some small roles in the late 80s, mainly in B-movies such as “Hunter’s Blood” and “Chopper Chicks in Zombietown”.
Thornton’s break came in 1992 with the release of “One False Move”, which he co-wrote and starred with Bill Paxton. The film brought him to Hollywood’s attention, and over the next several years he appeared in small roles in high-profile films such as “Tombstone”, “Indecent Proposal”, “On Deadly Ground”, and Jim Jarmusch’s “Dead Man” with Johnny Depp. It was in 1996, however, that Thornton hit the A-list with his film “Sling Blade”. Before the film he was almost completely unknown, but when it became a major Oscar contender Thornton became an overnight Hollywood darling and practically a household name. Though “Sling Blade” only grossed about $25 million domestically, Thornton’s Adapted Screenplay Oscar and Best Actor nomination for the film, combined with its success on video, thrust him into the spotlight after 15 years of struggling in the industry.
The success of “Sling Blade” helped the actor garner major roles in films as diverse as “Armageddon”, “A Simple Plan”, “Primary Colors”, “Homegrown”, and “Pushing Tin”. In 2000, Thornton married the much-younger Angelina Jolie, and the pair quickly became famous for their unique behavior, which included couples’ tattoos, the aforementioned blood vials, and extremely frank discussion of their sex life. During their three-year marriage, which was Thornton’s fifth, his career continued with a steady string of films including “The Man Who Wasn’t There”, the Oscar-winning “Monster’s Ball” with Halle Berry, “Love Actually”, and “Bad Santa”. More recently, Thornton has starred in “The Alamo” as Davy Crockett, the hit football film “Friday Night Lights”, the remake of “The Bad News Bears”, and “The Ice Harvest” with John Cusack. He has also released three albums to considerable critical acclaim.
At the very least, Thornton is a unique talent among the current crop of A-list stars. Always unpredictable, it’s hard to say what to expect from him in the future, though a continuous display of ability and gusto are certainly on the menu.