Billy Bob Thornton Explains Why He Turned Down Iconic Villain Roles
Billy Bob Thornton is no stranger to playing villains, but some roles just didn’t appeal to him. In a recent appearance on The Playlist’s Bingeworthy podcast, the acclaimed actor revealed why he passed on two major villain roles in Hollywood blockbusters.
Thornton was approached to play the notorious Norman Osborn, aka the Green Goblin, in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and later considered a villainous role in Mission: Impossible 3. However, he turned both down for personal reasons.
“I’m not really interested in those kinds of roles,” Thornton explained. “For Green Goblin, I didn’t want to wake up at 4 a.m. for hours of makeup. And for Mission: Impossible III, I didn’t want to be the guy trying to kill Tom Cruise. When you play the bad guy in a huge film like that, audiences remember it forever. I prefer to keep my roles unpredictable and less tied to one specific character.”
Despite passing on these roles, Thornton has still delivered memorable performances as a bad guy in films like Armageddon and Bad Santa, where his darker characters stand out.
Currently, Thornton is starring in Taylor Sheridan’s Landman, where he plays an oil company fixer in Texas, continuing to showcase his range in both dramatic and gritty roles.
