Billy Bob Thornton

Acting

Billy Bob Thornton

Born 1955-08-04 · Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA

Billy Bob Thornton (born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone. In the mid-1990s, after writing, directing, and starring in the independent film Sling Blade, he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He appeared in several major film roles following Sling Blade 's success, including 1998's Armageddon and A Simple Plan. During the late 1990s, Thornton began a career as a singer-songwriter. He has released three albums and was the singer of a blues rock band.

Acting credits

The Judge poster
7.3

A successful lawyer returns to his hometown for his mother's funeral only to discover that his estranged father, the town's judge, is suspected of murder.

The Judge

2014

Puss in Boots poster
6.6

Long before he even met Shrek, the notorious fighter, lover and outlaw Puss in Boots becomes a hero when he sets off on an adventure with the tough and street smart Kitty Softpaws and the mastermind Humpty Dumpty to save his town. This is the true story of The Cat, The Myth, The Legend... The Boots.

Puss in Boots

2011

Armageddon poster
6.8

When an asteroid threatens to collide with Earth, NASA honcho Dan Truman determines the only way to stop it is to drill into its surface and detonate a nuclear bomb. This leads him to renowned driller Harry Stamper, who agrees to helm the dangerous space mission provided he can bring along his own hotshot crew. Among them is the cocksure A.J. who Harry thinks isn't good enough for his daughter, until the mission proves otherwise.

Armageddon

1998

Love Actually poster
7.1

Eight very different couples deal with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London.

Love Actually

2003

The Gray Man poster
6.9

When a shadowy CIA agent uncovers damning agency secrets, he's hunted across the globe by a sociopathic rogue operative who's put a bounty on his head.

The Gray Man

2022

Eagle Eye poster
6.5

Jerry Shaw and Rachel Holloman are two strangers whose lives are suddenly thrown into turmoil by a mysterious woman they have never met. Threatening their lives and family, the unseen caller uses everyday technology to control their actions and push them into increasing danger. As events escalate, Jerry and Rachel become the country's most-wanted fugitives and must figure out what is happening to them.

Eagle Eye

2008

Bound by Honor poster
8.2

Based on the true life experiences of poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, the film focuses on half-brothers Paco and Cruz, and their bi-racial cousin Miklo. It opens in 1972, as the three are members of an East L.A. gang known as the "Vatos Locos", and the story focuses on how a violent crime and the influence of narcotics alter their lives. Miklo is incarcerated and sent to San Quentin, where he makes a "home" for himself. Cruz becomes an exceptional artist, but a heroin addiction overcomes him with tragic results. Paco becomes a cop and an enemy to his "carnal", Miklo.

Bound by Honor

1993

Tombstone poster
7.6

Legendary marshal Wyatt Earp, now a weary gunfighter, joins his brothers Morgan and Virgil to pursue their collective fortune in the thriving mining town of Tombstone. But Earp is forced to don a badge again and get help from his notorious pal Doc Holliday when a gang of renegade brigands and rustlers begins terrorizing the town.

Tombstone

1993

The Electric State poster
6.5

An orphaned teen hits the road with a mysterious robot to find her long-lost brother, teaming up with a smuggler and his wisecracking sidekick.

The Electric State

2025

Entourage poster
6.2

Movie star Vincent Chase, together with his boys, Eric, Turtle and Johnny, are back…and back in business with super agent-turned-studio head Ari Gold. Some of their ambitions have changed, but the bond between them remains strong as they navigate the capricious and often cutthroat world of Hollywood.

Entourage

2015

Indecent Proposal poster
6.4

John Gage offers a down-on-his-luck yuppie husband $1 million for the opportunity to spend the night with the man's wife.

Indecent Proposal

1993

School for Scoundrels poster
5.5

In the hope of winning the woman of his dreams, Amanda, lovelorn meter-reader Roger Wadell enrolls in a secret confidence-building class. The course's title takes on much more meaning when he discovers that his egomaniacal professor Dr. P also wants the same woman. They begin a fierce rivalry that quickly spirals out of control, their pranks and insults get uglier as they try to prove who is the ultimate guy's guy.

School for Scoundrels

2006

Bad Santa poster
6.6

You'd better watch out - Willie T. Soke is coming to town, and he doesn't care if you've been naughty or nice. Willie's favorite holiday tradition is to fill his sacks with loot lifted from shopping malls across the country. But this year his plot gets derailed by a wisecracking store detective, a sexy bartender, and a kid who's convinced Willie is the real Santa Claus.

Bad Santa

2003

Faster poster
6.4

After 10 years in prison, Driver is now a free man with a single focus - hunting down the people responsible for brutally murdering his brother.

Faster

2010

21 Years: Richard Linklater poster
6.3

A journey through the professional life of innovative film director Richard Linklater: 21 years creating films, carving his signature in pop culture; an analysis of his style and motivations, through the funny and moving testimonies of close friends and collaborators, actors and other filmmakers.

21 Years: Richard Linklater

2014

The Man Who Wasn't There poster
7.5

A tale of murder, crime and punishment set in the summer of 1949. Ed Crane, a barber in a small California town, is dissatisfied with his life, but his wife Doris' infidelity and a mysterious opportunity presents him with a chance to change it.

The Man Who Wasn't There

2001

Monster's Ball poster
6.8

A prison guard begins a tentative romance with the unsuspecting widow of a man whose execution he presided over.

Monster's Ball

2001

Intolerable Cruelty poster
6.0

A revenge-seeking gold digger marries a womanizing Beverly Hills lawyer with the intention of making a killing in the divorce.

Intolerable Cruelty

2003

Dead Man poster
7.3

On the run after committing murder, an accountant encounters a strange Native American man who prepares him for his journey into the spiritual world.

Dead Man

1995

Bandits poster
6.3

After escaping from prison, Joe and Terry go on a crime spree, robbing banks through Oregon and California in order to finance their scheme for a new life south of the border. Unfortunately, things get more complicated when they meet Kate, who runs into them with her car. She joins the bandits on their cross-country spree, and eventually she steals something, too: their hearts.

Bandits

2001

The Informers poster
4.8

A collection of intersecting short stories set in early 1980s Los Angeles, depicts a week in the lives of an assortment of socially alienated, mainly well-off characters who numb their sense of emptiness with casual sex, violence, and drugs.

The Informers

2008

Pushing Tin poster
5.9

Two air traffic controllers who thrive on living dangerously compete to outdo each other on several levels.

Pushing Tin

1999

Friday Night Lights poster
6.9

A small, turbulent town in Texas obsesses over their high school football team to an unhealthy degree. When the star tailback, Boobie Miles, is seriously injured during the first game of the season, all hope is lost, and the town's dormant social problems begin to flare up. It is left to the inspiring abilities of new coach Gary Gaines to instill in the other team members -- and, by proxy, the town itself -- a sense of self-respect and honor.

Friday Night Lights

2004

U Turn poster
6.6

When a desperate man’s car breaks down in a bizarre desert town while evading vengeful bookies, he becomes entangled in a dangerous love triangle. Caught between a married couple, he’s faced with deadly contracts to kill them both.

U Turn

1997

Behind the camera

The Gift poster
6.5

Annie Wilson, young widow and mother of three, makes her living foretelling others' futures⁠—though her own has become cloudier than even she can see. Threatened by a client's violent husband and plagued by visions of a missing local woman, Annie finds herself pulled into a thicket of lies and deception in which her extraordinary gift may ultimately get her killed.

The Gift

2000

Sling Blade poster
7.5

Karl Childers, a mentally disabled man, has been in the custody of the state mental hospital since the age of 12 for killing his mother and her lover. Although thoroughly institutionalized, he is deemed fit to be released into the outside world.

Sling Blade

1996

Sling Blade poster
7.5

Karl Childers, a mentally disabled man, has been in the custody of the state mental hospital since the age of 12 for killing his mother and her lover. Although thoroughly institutionalized, he is deemed fit to be released into the outside world.

Sling Blade

1996

All the Pretty Horses poster
5.7

The year is 1949. A young Texan named John Grady finds himself without a home after his mother sells the ranch where he has spent his entire life. Lured south of the border by the romance of cowboy life and the promise of a fresh start, Cole and his pal embark on an adventure that will test their resilience, define their maturity, and change their lives forever.

All the Pretty Horses

2000

All the Pretty Horses poster
5.7

The year is 1949. A young Texan named John Grady finds himself without a home after his mother sells the ranch where he has spent his entire life. Lured south of the border by the romance of cowboy life and the promise of a fresh start, Cole and his pal embark on an adventure that will test their resilience, define their maturity, and change their lives forever.

All the Pretty Horses

2000

A Family Thing poster
6.6

Earl Pilcher Jr. runs an equipment rental outfit in Arkansas, lives with his wife and kids and parents, and rarely takes off his gimme cap. His mother dies, leaving a letter explaining he's not her natural son, but the son of a Black woman who died in childbirth; plus, he has a half brother Ray, in Chicago, she wants him to visit. Earl makes the trip, initially receiving a cold welcome from Ray and Ray's son, Virgil. His birth mother's sister, Aunt T., an aged and blind matriarch, takes Earl in tow and insists that the family open up to him.

A Family Thing

1996

One False Move poster
6.7

Following a series of drug deals and murders, three criminals -- Fantasia, Ray Malcolm and Pluto -- travel from Los Angeles to Houston, finally arriving in a small Arkansas town to go into hiding. Two detectives from the LAPD, who are already on the case, contact the town's sheriff, Dale Dixon, to alert him of the fugitives' presence in the area. Underestimating Dixon, the criminals have no idea what they are about to face.

One False Move

1992

Daddy and Them poster
5.4

Ruby and her husband Claude are a working-class couple who live in suburban Arkansas. As crazy as they are for each other, their relationship is far from harmonious. (The lack of money doesn't help matters, either.) In fact, their whole family is fraught with unresolved conflicts. Then Claude's uncle is arrested on a felony charge, and everyone rallies round. Ruby's mother Jewel and flirtatious sister Rose (Claude's ex-girlfriend) even fly in from Tennessee; but, far from being a source of support, Jewel seems only to want to break up Ruby and Claude.

Daddy and Them

2001

Daddy and Them poster
5.4

Ruby and her husband Claude are a working-class couple who live in suburban Arkansas. As crazy as they are for each other, their relationship is far from harmonious. (The lack of money doesn't help matters, either.) In fact, their whole family is fraught with unresolved conflicts. Then Claude's uncle is arrested on a felony charge, and everyone rallies round. Ruby's mother Jewel and flirtatious sister Rose (Claude's ex-girlfriend) even fly in from Tennessee; but, far from being a source of support, Jewel seems only to want to break up Ruby and Claude.

Daddy and Them

2001

Camouflage poster
4.4

Marty Mackenzie is an unsuccessful stage actor who takes an interest in private investigating. He takes a job working with Jack Potter, a crusty private eye. They both take a case in Beaver Ridge, a seedy small town where a murder is being planned against a rich gravel pit owner. Marty realizes that private investigating is not as it seemed to be.

Camouflage

2001

Don't Look Back poster
5.2

Los Angeles heroin addict Jesse endangers the lives of his childhood friends after he discovers a briefcase full of money from a drug deal gone bad, and returns home with it to Texas. Hoping to turn his life around with his newfound wealth, Jessie endures detox with the support of his friends. However, the gang leader behind the drug deal, along with his cronies, trace Jesse's footsteps to Texas to exact revenge and take back their money.

Don't Look Back

1996

Jayne Mansfield's Car poster
5.7

Alabama; 1969: The death of a clan's estranged wife and mother brings together two very different families. The scars of the past hide differences that will either tear them apart or expose truths that could lead to unexpected collisions.

Jayne Mansfield's Car

2013

Jayne Mansfield's Car poster
5.7

Alabama; 1969: The death of a clan's estranged wife and mother brings together two very different families. The scars of the past hide differences that will either tear them apart or expose truths that could lead to unexpected collisions.

Jayne Mansfield's Car

2013

Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade poster
6.7

25 years after committing a double murder, Karl Childers is going to be released from an institution for the criminally insane. A local reporter comes to talk to him, and listens in horror about his life leading up to the crime. This is the short film that inspired the full-length "Sling Blade".

Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade

1994

Widespread Panic: Panic In the Streets poster
NR

The cult jam band performs during the "Light Fuse Get Away" CD release party, which was held in Widespread Panic's hometown of Athens, Georgia, in April 1998. This very special release features the music video "Aunt Avis," directed by Billy Bob Thornton, featuring Vic Chesnutt and Laura Dern; also included are tracks such as "Disco," "Tall Boy," "Love Tractor," "Chilly Water," "Porch Song," "Pilgrims," "Fishwater," "Space Wrangler" and many more.

Widespread Panic: Panic In the Streets

2002

The King of Luck poster
NR

Billy Bob Thornton's portrait of country outlaw Willie Nelson melds archival photos, concert footage and anecdotes from family, band mates, and pals Owen Wilson and Kris Kristofferson into an easygoing tour through a storied career.

The King of Luck

2011