Billy Bob Thornton’s Reason for Rejecting Green Goblin Makes a Lot of Sense

Hollywood can be a fickle town. One minute, they love you because of that thing you do. You know the thing. You do it so well and it helped you explode on the scene. Whole movies are based on your thing. People want to know how you do your thing so well. Then, they get tired of your thing, even though they pushed you toward doing it. Now, they want a new thing. You try giving them that new thing, but they won’t have it. They only want you to do the old thing you did, even though they don’t want it anymore.

It’s hard to navigate! Many folks have just stuck to their thing regardless. They bank on the hope that the industry will come back around to their thing. Sometimes that works! Other times, people fall into obscurity. Their careers fade away because the town no longer wants them. Still, some actors have a thing, but avoid letting the town pigeonhole them. It’s not that they change much of what they do, but they change what roles they play. That’s what Billy Bob Thornton has striven for.

I like Billy Bob, but honestly haven’t seen him in a ton of things. Regardless, I am well aware of his grounded, dirty guy thing. Like, he always comes across like an uncle who would let you try your first beer, forget he did, and then continue to do it every time he sees you, proud as can be every time. It works for him, and a lot of his roles reflect his thing, but he plays plenty of roles that are slightly left of his thing. There are little variations on what he excels at. That’s part of how he’s kept his career going. That and not playing villains.

Thornton recently appeared on the Playlist’s Bingeworthy Podcast to chat about stuff you chat about on a podcast. Regarding his career, Thornton revealed why he has avoided playing certain villains. “I don’t have much interest in those kinds of roles,” Thornton explained. “With the Green Goblin, I didn’t feel like getting up at 4 a.m. for five or six hours of makeup. And with Mission: Impossible III, I didn’t want to be the guy trying to kill Tom Cruise. If you’re the bad guy in a big movie like that, audiences remember it forever. I prefer to keep things looser and less predictable.”

Makes a lot of sense! Thornton has avoided being typecast and, to his credit, hasn’t completely avoided villains. One of the best performances I’ve seen from Thornton was as Lorne Malvo in the first season of Fargo. He’s incredible in that, and it’s not some scene-chewing role. Regardless, it is funny that the two roles Thornton turned down went to incredible actors who did wonders with the roles. Maybe Thornton could have done the same?