Billy Bob Thornton shared how life-changing advice from Robert Redford paved the way for his success in Hollywood.
The 69-year-old actor, who is starring in the new Taylor Sheridan-directed drama series “Landman,” had a small role in Redford’s hit 1993 movie “Indecent Proposal,” which also starred Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson.
During an interview with Fox News Digital, Thornton recalled an on-set conversation that he had with Redford when he found himself at a crossroads in the early years of his career.
“Redford was very good to me, and I only had a couple of scenes in that movie, but I was there for six weeks because it took a long time to get this thing shot,” Thornton remembered with a laugh.
“That’s when Demi and I first met each other,” he continued. “And [Redford] brought me, I think — I can’t remember — it was like a Newsweek or Time magazine, one of those. And there was an article in there about a movie I’d co-written with Tom Epperson and costarred in called ‘One False Move.’ And this was a glowing review of ‘One False Move.’’
“He said, ‘Look, have you seen this?’ I said, ‘No. He said, ’Read that.’ And I sat there next to him, and he said, ‘Keep doing that.’ He said, ‘They’re going to come at you with offers now.’ And he said, ‘Don’t go off and play a superhero or something and make money.’
“Right away he said, ‘Stick in this world of independent film for a while, make a name for yourself in that, and then you will transition into bigger stuff later.’ But he said, ‘This is where you need to be in the beginning because you could go out and do one stinker, a big event movie and you’re done,’” Thornton recalled.
“So that’s what he told me. And he was right.”
The “Armageddon” star previously revealed that he received similar advice from another Hollywood icon when he was struggling as a young actor. During a 1997 appearance on “Charlie Rose,” Thorton recalled working a side gig as a waiter at a Hollywood party where he met legendary director Billy Wilder. The two struck up a conversation during which Wilder guessed that Thornton wanted to be an actor.
“I didn’t know waiters were actor in those days,” Thornton said. “I didn’t know that whole joke, but I said, ‘Yeah, how did you know?’ I thought the guy was psychic or something. And he said, ‘Oh, you all want to be actors.’ He said, ‘Well, let me tell you something. You’re never going to make it as an actor.’”
Thornton continued, “And I was all great, thanks a lot.’ And he said, ‘You’re too damned ugly to be a movie star, and you don’t look like you’ve been hit in the face with a frying pan so you can’t be a really great character man.’”
Thornton said that the “Some Like It Hot” director then advised him to become a screenwriter.
“‘That’s your ticket,’” Thornton recalled Wilder telling him. “‘That’s the only way to make it. So write your own stuff, play your own things, make your own way. You know, nobody’s going to wait for you.’”
Thornton went on to co-write “One False Move” with his frequent collaborator Tom Epperson and also starred in the movie as the murderous thug Ray Malcolm. The low-budget crime thriller was met with critical acclaim and jumpstarted Thornton’s career in the entertainment industry.
Three years after working with Redford, Thornton directed, wrote and starred in the 1996 independent movie “Sling Blade.”
The crime thriller followed Karl Childers (Thornton), a mentally disabled man who is released from the psychiatric hospital where he spent most of his life after murdering his mother and her lover.
Childers sets out to start a new life in a small town and befriends a young boy and his mother.
Thornton skyrocketed to fame after “Sling Blade” became a surprise hit at the box office and received rave reviews from critics.
The Arkansas native won the Academy Award for best screenplay and earned an Oscar nomination for his performance.
He went on to earn a best supporting actor Academy Award nomination for his performance in the 1998 neo-noir crime thriller “A Simple Plan.”
The actor has also earned numerous accolades for his work in television.
He won a Golden Globe Award for his starring role in the first season of the FX anthology series “Fargo” and was also nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or movie.
Thornton won his second Golden Globe for his performance in the Amazon legal drama series “Goliath,” in which he starred for four seasons from 2016 to 2021.
Thornton is now returning to the small screen with Sheridan’s new show “Landman.” The show marks the on-screen reunion of Thornton and Moore and also stars Ali Larter and Jon Hamm with guest appearances from Michael Pena and Andy Garcia.
A plot synopsis read, “Set in the proverbial boomtowns of West Texas, ‘Landman’ is a modern-day tale of fortune seeking in the world of oil rigs.”
Based on the notable 11-part podcast “Boomtown,” the series is an upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires fueling a boom so big, it’s reshaping our climate, our economy and our geopolitics.”
“Boomtown” host Christian Wallace teamed up with Sheridan to create the 10-episode Paramount+ show, which will premiere its first season on Nov. 17.
Thornton, who leads the cast of “Landman,” plays Tommy Norris, a crisis executive at an oil company. During his interview with Fox News Digital, Thornton recalled that Sheridan approached him about the show after the actor made an appearance in the “Yellowstone” prequel series “1883.”
“I did a cameo in ‘1883’ for Taylor and at the after-gathering for that, I sat next to him, and he said, ‘Listen, I’m glad I got to be around you and stuff because I have this project and I wanted to do this with you. He said, ‘I’m writing something for you that’s called ‘Landman.’ He told me [about] the world that it takes place in which I knew some about, but I thought, ‘Well, that’s interesting. I haven’t really seen anything about this since the movie “Giant.”
Thornton noted that he loved “Giant,” the 1956 epic Western drama starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean.
“And I thought this could be the streaming version of ‘Giant,’ only even more dangerous and crazy,” Thornton said. “So it was kind of a no-brainer. Plus, Taylor basically said, ‘Look, I know your voice. I’m going to write this for you. He goes, ‘This part is going to be you if you were a landman.’”
Sheridan found enormous success with the epic Western drama “Yellowstone” and its hit spin-offs “1883” and “1923.” He is also the creator of the hit crime series “Tulsa King,” starring Sylvester Stallone and “Mayor of Kingstown,” headlined by Jeremy Renner.
While speaking with Fox News Digital, Thornton shared his thoughts on whether he was feeling pressure to make “Landman” a hit after Sheridan’s previous successes.
“For sure,” Thornton said. “Any time that someone has had a success — let’s say a director has directed 12 giant movies that everybody loves — you don’t want to be the guy that bombs it,” Thornton said with a laugh.
He continued, “So, yeah, there is a lot of pressure because of the successes he’s had with the other shows. But, you know, there’s always an audience for every kind of thing.”
“And I know Taylor loves this one for sure, and we all love it,” Thornton added. “All the people who participated in this love it.”
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