The movie Billy Bob Thornton only made for the money: “People think it’s a joke when I say this”
Sometimes, a really great actor will appear in something quite terrible or seemingly out of their wheelhouse, and you can’t help but wonder what was going through their mind when they accepted the job. From Michael Caine starring in Jaws: The Revenge to Glenn Close appearing in Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s often the case that the actor needs a quick cheque for whatever reason.
Billy Bob Thornton, known for roles in a diverse range of movies like the western Tombstone, the beloved Christmas movie Bad Santa, and the Oscar-winning Monster’s Ball, is no different. He might have won a ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ Academy Award for Sling Blade, which he also directed and starred in, but he has also found himself taking on roles purely out of financial necessity.
This was the case when he appeared in 1998’s Armageddon, directed by Michael Bay. The movie also starred the likes of Liv Tyler, Bruce Willis, Steve Buscemi, and Ben Affleck, but critics were divided over its cinematic merits. Still, it managed to gross a sizable amount, topping the box office records that year.
Speaking at SXSW, the actor once revealed, “Well when I did Armageddon, and this is just the truth. People think it’s a joke when I say this. I had to pay off a divorce. I really did! When I did Armageddon, I had to have some money!” He was also advised by his manager to take on a big-budget movie to ensure his legacy in Hollywood and raise his profile, leading him to the film, which cost $140 million to make.
“And my manager said, also, this is the deal: You’ve gotta do movies like this, because if you don’t, you don’t have your picture on a bus stop now and then, people forget about you. He said, you can do the independent films you love all you want. Every now and then, you’ve gotta be on a bus stop. And that’s what’s going to afford you the chance to do the movies you want to do.”
When it came to selecting Armageddon, he was initially hesitant, revealing that “what they do is they send you 50 of those kinds of movies, and you’ll look through the 50 of them… 48 of them you can barely read without throwing up, and you pick one that’s pretty good, or at least something that’s not gonna hurt ya.” So Armageddon it was, even if he felt out of place.
“When we did the table read for that movie it was kind of strange because Owen [Wilson], Buscemi and I kind of know each other and stuff. And we’re sittin’ at this table read through, at a Jerry Bruckheimer, Michael Bay movie and we’re lookin’ at each other like, what the hell are we doin’ here? We don’t even know how to do this, I mean whaddya do?”
In the end, Thornton enjoyed shooting the film, and while it might not have been critically-acclaimed, he believes that it “did a lot for me so I can never knock that movie.”
