Billy Bob Thornton won the Best Actor Golden Globe for his extraordinarily powerful performance in the Amazon Original Goliath. Thornton’s alcoholic lawyer and champion of the underdog is a role he eats up, bringing a balance of pathos and power that simply rivets on screen. It’s as if Thornton, who has been married six times, puts his whole complex life into the role.
Thornton, whose acting career has been as diverse and peripatetic as his personal life, really broke through into stardom in Sling Blade in 1996. Playing the intellectually challenged murderer Karl Childers, Thornton was elevated from actor to superstar. Thornton directed the film and adapted the screenplay, marking him as a triple threat who could punch his own ticket going forward. Here are some of the projects the 61-year-old Thornton has illuminated in his enduring career:
A Simple Plan (1998)
Monster’s Ball (2001)
Bad Santa (2003)
Chrystal (2004)
One False Move (1992)
Daddy And Them (2001)
The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)
The Apostle (1997)
Friday Night Lights (2004)
Bandits (2001)
Primary Colors (1998)
Pushing Tin (1999)
