There is - and could only ever be - one Billy Bob Thornton: actor, musician, Academy Award-winning screenwriter, and accidental Hollywood badass. In The Billy Bob Tapes, he spins colourful tales of his dirt-poor Southern upbringing, his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (fear of komodo dragons and antiques), his life, his loves (including his marriage to fellow Oscar winner Angelina Jolie), and, of course, his movie career.
The Billy Bob Tapes is full of incredible stories and righteous philosophical rants, told with the help of his close friend, legendary country music star and bestselling author, Kinky Friedman. Put these two iconoclasts together and you get a story that's not just a celebrity memoir, but a unique, hilarious and insightful pop culture manifesto.
'I'll get into it by telling a story'
Raised in small-town Arkansas, Billy Bob Thornton grew up amid a rich storytelling tradition. As a kid, he would sit on the porch listening to his family or some old man down the road spinning yarns about colourful neighbours. From this was born his Oscar-winning masterpiece Sling Blade and now The Billy Bob Tapes - a narrative based on late-night conversations with Kinky Friedman and other friends.
The quirky characters, stories and experiences of his youth would find their way into Billy's work, in his films and music, in his perspective and attitude. 'It's like the old saying goes: you can take the boy out of the hills, but you can't take the hills out of the boy.' That boy did leave the hills, for the Hollywood Hills. A true fish out of water, he recalls stories of miserable jobs, the cheapest accommodations, and physical hunger before his fortunes turned when he served hors d'oeuvres as a catering waiter to legendary director Billy Wilder.
In The Billy Bob Tapes Billy Bob Thornton reflects on critics, the culture around fame, and the challenges of conveying an artistic vision in film. With passion, unvarnished honesty, wry humour, and a little help from friends Angelina Jolie, Robert Duvall and Dwight Yoakam, amongst others, Billy Bob finally talks.
