The only actor Billy Bob Thornton was “scared to death” of: “I desperately want him to like me”
There are many things that Billy Bob Thornton is scared of, and almost all of them are weird, but in all of his years in the business, there’s only one actor who struck fear into his heart.
If anything, it’s a surprise that the actor and musician could be left quaking in his boots by anything semi-normal, like a person. Beyond that, the list of things that are capable of having Thornton bolt upright in the middle of the night, caked in a cold sweat, is completely and utterly bizarre.
For one thing, Benjamin Disraeli’s facial hair gives him the shivers. For reasons known only to him, the Academy Award winner can’t stand the sight of the 19th-century politician and former Prime Minister’s sideburns, which gave Hugh Grant the perfect opportunity to traumatise him on the set of Love Actually.
He also suffers from a debilitating fear of antique furniture, and the more ornate and French in origin, the worse, while he’s copped to using plastic cutlery to combat the dread that certain types of silverware make him feel, not to mention Komodo dragons, heavy curtains, with clowns and germs ranking among his least unusual phobias.
With that in mind, you might expect Thornton to be scared of one of the most inoffensive, wholesome, and beloved stars in Hollywood, like a Keanu Reeves or Tom Hanks. Instead, he confessed that the one thespian who frightened him the most happened to be a friend, frequent collaborator, father figure, and mentor, which does admittedly make sense, at least as it applies to him.
“Robert Duvall is like my mentor, and I desperately want him to like me,” the Sling Blade creator once said. “But at the same time, I’m scared to death of him.” The late, great Duvall played his fair share of fearsome characters, but the longer his legendary career wore on, he assumed the persona of a kindly, benevolent veteran who never lost his passion for his chosen profession.
That’s what he was to Thornton to a certain extent, dubbing the Boxmasters man the “hillbilly Orson Welles” for his behind-the-camera efforts. They co-starred in several productions, including the aforementioned Sling Blade, The Apostle, Jayne Mansfield’s Car, The Judge, and The Stars Fell on Henrietta, while Thornton co-wrote A Family Thing, which featured Duvall in the leading role.
There was definitely a friendship and deep respect between the two, but from the outside looking in, it was a one-way street. Thornton remembers visiting Duvall at home when his band was on tour, with his wife asking, “Bobby, aren’t you happy that Billy came by to see you?” to which he responds, “Why would I be happy about that?” As the former added, “And this is my mentor, here.”
Obviously, Duvall wouldn’t have taken Thornton under his wing or made so many movies with him if he didn’t hold him in high esteem, but that didn’t make the Landman star any less terrified of him.
