I always say if you're going to do a movie about Charles de Gaulle get a Frenchman, you know. I'm not French. And yeah, sure I could get with a dialect coach and work for six months trying to talk like a Frenchman. But there's some French actors. Just get one of them, you know.

Billy Bob Thornton

Categorized in : Trying Months Dialect Coach

Somewhere along the line we stopped believing we could do anything. And if we don't have our dreams, we have nothing.

Billy Bob Thornton

motivational inspirational life

Getting the nomination is like gravy. Winning would be like whatever is better than gravy.

Billy Bob Thornton

nominations would-be winning

I've been married five times, and people think that's some bizarre thing, yet I've got buddies who refuse to get married and have sex with 15 people a week. I'm like "Which is better?" At least I was trying.

Billy Bob Thornton

sex people thinking

I was the fattest baby in Clark County, Arkansas. They put me in the newspaper. It was like a prize turnip.

Billy Bob Thornton

arkansas newspapers baby

My process started when I was born. The process is life experience. I believe that what makes you an artist, or at least an artist who can communicate the ideas that they want to get across, are people that have life experience.

Billy Bob Thornton

artist believe ideas

I am fairly embraced by the Hollywood community, and I love making movies and I love acting, but I'm not real crazy about the Hollywood system. So the fact that they embrace me is a shock to me because I tell them to kiss my ass all the time. I don't understand why they haven't thrown me out on my ear. The other thing is I don't participate much. I have very few friends within the movie community. I hang out with some guys I've known forever. They're all broke and eat me out of house and home. But I stay home mostly and I don't go to the parties. Maybe that preserves me.

Billy Bob Thornton

party crazy real

I always wished there was somebody like the Coen Brothers and they appeared. And so yeah, my favorite role that I've ever done was in The Man Who Wasn't There. That's my very favorite character I've ever played.

Billy Bob Thornton

brother character men

I've never heard of anybody smoking a joint and going on a rampage. It makes you lie around on the floor and look at the ceiling. What's wrong with that?

Billy Bob Thornton

marijuana smoking lying

I figured I would have to tell someone to kiss my ass before it was all over, and I have -- twice.

Billy Bob Thornton

kiss-my-ass ass kissing

I attribute all my success to ignorance. If you don't ever think about not getting where you want to be, I think it helps you out.

Billy Bob Thornton

ignorance want thinking

I've danced one time in my life. It was the most mortifying experience I ever had.

Billy Bob Thornton

one-time experience

If you love somebody let them know every day.

Billy Bob Thornton

ifs knows

You want to know the hardest thing about being smart?

Billy Bob Thornton

suspense smart want

You know, what's popular? Okay, vampires are very popular. Let me make my vampire movie. I'm not saying you can't make a vampire movie. But if you're going to do one do something crazy. I mean don't just get a bunch of, like I said, models and make them into vampires so you'll get an audience. You know maybe get some ugly vampires for a change.

Billy Bob Thornton

vampire crazy mean

I don't have a fear of flying; I have a fear of crashing.

Billy Bob Thornton

pilots-and-flying airplane flying

I believe in running through the rain and crashing into the person you love and having your lips bleed on each other.

Billy Bob Thornton

rain running believe

Marketing is the devil.

Billy Bob Thornton

devil marketing

There was a time when I could walk down the street, Hollywood Boulevard or Beverly Drive, and somebody would come up to you and they would say, "Excuse me," and you'd barely hear them, and you'd turn around and you'd say, "Yeah, how you doing?" and they'd say, "I'm really sorry to bother you, but my aunt is a big fan of yours, and would you mind terribly if you'd just sign this paper," or whatever it is, and you're happy to do that, and the people are pretty nice about it.

Billy Bob Thornton

aunt nice sorry

I don't like movies that are shot on green screen much, you know. I mean, I know that's the thing to do, and I know that it's getting. I'll put it this way; David Lean would probably kill himself, you know, again if he knew that people were watching Lawrence of Arabia on a telephone.

Billy Bob Thornton

arabia mean people

Usually when you're playing a character, you think a lot about their backstory.

Billy Bob Thornton

character thinking