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 Billy Bob Thorton
Interview By: Mark Plante
Billy Bob Thorton is a man who has been able to carve out a successful career in Hollywood as one of the rare character actors who became a leading man. He has had recent box office success with Bad Santa and Friday Night Lights. He sits down to talk to the Cinema Source about his childhood, kids, future projects and his current one, Bad News Bears.
While many actors might have been scared to recreate a classic like the 1976 film Bad News Bears, which starred Walter Mathau, Billy Bob Thorton was not scared. He just saw it as a big responsibility.
“Any time you’re playing real person or a part that someone has made iconic it makes you a little nervous. I was a big fan of Walter’s and of the original movie. I would never pretend that I would be as good or as funny as him. I purposefully didn’t watch the old movie when we did this. I had seen it years ago, but I didn’t watch it, so I didn’t pick up any of his mannerisms. I didn’t want to imitate him. It always makes you a little nervous.”
Thorton was also excited about this role, which allowed him to revisit a similar character he did in Bad Santa and the possible commercial success this new film could have, coming off a string of box office hits.
“I feel really lucky. Gotten really good scripts and working with good people. I feel pretty fortunate right now. Yeah, the guy curses and drinks beer. Similarity there; curses at children. I was prepared for people to draw comparisons. If it was a movie that made thirty dollars I would say, ‘oh not at all’. From the very beginning we thought this might be a - not really a sequel, but a nice way to play a character like that. People seem to like that type of person. It kind rolls off my tongue.
While he enjoys playing grumpy on-screen, he does not believe he’s the new ‘Grumpy Old Man” he replies with a laugh, “Hey, just call me grumpy. I’m not fifty yet.”
And playing baseball again was a lot of fun for Thorton to return to. It was quite a big part of his life for a while before he got the acting bug.
“I was a baseball player. That’s what I would have done. Definitely. When I was growing up I had no idea I would be an actor. I really wanted to play for the St. Louis Cardinals. That’s all I wanted to do. I played all the way through high school and through Babe Ruth league. I did pretty well. I had a try out with the Kansas City Royals and had my collar bone broken in their camp. I was a junk pitcher. Pretty good one. I would have liked to have been a pitcher for the Cardinals, or maybe a curling ...
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