Signing Onto Bad Santa Was A ‘No-Brainer’ For Billy Bob Thornton

Thornton hadn’t really shown off his comic timing and willingness to be a disheveled antihero until the role of Willie fell into his lap. Interestingly, Thornton would wind up acting in two Christmas classics back-to-back, having just appeared as the President of the United States in “Love Actually,” opposite Hugh Grant as the British Prime Minister. That romantic dramedy is a legitimate tearjerker for the holidays, and the filthy R-rated antics seen in “Bad Santa” became the perfect antithesis for Thornton to sink his teeth in to. Looking back during an interview with the New York Times, Thornton knew it was the perfect role at the perfect time:

“I heard Sean Penn was considered, and Nicolas Cage. My manager called and said: ‘Wait until you read this script. I’ve never seen anything like this. ‘I’d read maybe a third of it, and I called him and said, ‘We’ve gotta do this.’ It was kind of a no-brainer.”

R-rated comedies were king at the box office during the 2000s, providing another reason that the timing for Thornton felt serendipitous. “Wedding Crashers,” “Old School” and “Superbad” were all smash hits that embraced their lewd and crude characters with generally misguided motives. “Bad Santa” was immediately placed in the pantheon of dark comedy classics, and eventually Thornton was even talked into returning for a sequel. The less said about that, the better.