LOS ANGELES – Billy Bob Thornton was in the news recently for displaying some odd behavior during a Canadian radio chat show. After some adverse media attention, he went on Jimmy Kimmel Live to explain.
A few years ago, Billy Bob was famous for wearing a vial of blood around his neck, along with then-wife Angelina Jolie. The talented actor, writer, and musician’s peculiarities didn’t stop there. From Wikipedia:
Various idiosyncratic behaviors have been well-documented in interviews with the actor; among these is a phobia of antique furniture — a disorder shared by the Dwight Yoakam character in the Thornton-penned Sling Blade, and by Thornton’s own character in the 2001 film Bandits. Additionally, he has stated that he has a fear of certain types of flatware, a trait assumed by his character, Hank Grotowski, in 2001’s Monster’s Ball, in which Grotowski insists on a plastic spoon for his daily bowl of chocolate ice cream. In a 2004 interview with The Independent, Thornton explained: “It’s just that I won’t use real silver. You know, like the big, old, heavy-ass forks and knives, I can’t do that. It’s the same thing as the antique furniture. I just don’t like old stuff. I’m creeped out by it, and I have no explanation why…I don’t have a phobia about American antiques, it’s mostly French — you know, like the big, old, gold-carved chairs with the velvet cushions. The Louis XIV type. That’s what creeps me out. I can spot the imitation antiques a mile off. They have a different vibe. Not as much dust.” In addition to his aversion to silver cutlery, velvet, and “creepy, castle-y stuff,” Thornton confesses that “pieces from 1700 and 1800 France and England really freak me out, especially harpsichords.”
Credits: Billy Bob picture from reelmovienews.com. Chairs from s.artquid.com, dresser from ifixantiques.com, harpsichord from maserkit.com.
