Billy Bob Thornton Talks Turning Down Sam Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man’ & ‘Mission: Impossible III’

Can you believe it’s been nearly 30 years since the release of “Sling Blade,” the film that put writer, director, and star Billy Bob Thornton on the map? Since then, we’ve seen Thornton appear in a number of high profile films, such as “Armageddon,” “Bad Santa,” and “Friday Night Lights.” But there are a couple of massive films Thornton actually turned down.

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In an upcoming episode of The Playlist’s “Bingeworthy” podcast, Billy Bob Thornton talked about two huge projects that he turned down years ago. The first of these films is Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man,” where he was approached about the role of Norman Osborn, aka Green Goblin. Then, several years later, he was up for the role of the villain in “Mission: Impossible 3.” And when you hear Thornton talk about it, he gives very matter-of-fact reasons for turning them down. 

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“I don’t have much interest in those kinds of roles,” Thornton said. “With the Green Goblin, I didn’t feel like getting up at 4 a.m. for five or six hours of makeup… And with ‘Mission: Impossible III,’ I didn’t want to be the guy trying to kill Tom Cruise. If you’re the bad guy in a big movie like that, audiences remember it forever. I prefer to keep things looser and less predictable.”

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Looser and less predictable is definitely how Thornton’s career has gone over the decades. He’s appeared in a number of films, but most recently, he’s stuck with TV. He did multiple seasons of the Prime Video series “Goliath.” And just this year, he kicked off the first season of a new show, “Landman,” which is the latest from “Yellowstone” mastermind Taylor Sheridan.

Obviously, things have turned out just fine for Thornton since turning down those big roles. He continues to work on interesting projects, and he’s not remembered as the guy trying to kill Tom Cruise. 

–Additional reporting by Mike DeAngelo