Billy Bob Thornton, World-Famous Musician?

Billy Bob Thornton, famous actor – definitely.
Billy Bob Thornton, screenwriter and director – that too.
Billy Bob Thornton, previously married to Angelina Jolie – sure was!
Billy Bob Thornton, singer and drummer of The Boxmasters – uh… ok?!

Despite his obvious and established movie fame, Billy Bob Thornton, over the weekend, insisted on being branded not as a Hollywood star but as member of the band The Boxmasters. In an interview for Q, a CBC Radio One show hosted by Jian Ghomeshi, Billy Bob threw a first passive-aggressive then downright childish tantrum after his film career and screenwriting and directing success were mentioned as a background introduction.

Fellow members of The Boxmasters hung their heads as Billy Bob answered questions with, “I have no idea.” Jian Ghomeshi pushed through with nervous laughter until he finally questioned the movie star about his seeming refusal to cooperate and his nonsensical answers to simple questions about musical influence. Jian apologized and asked to continue the interview about the music without making any further reference to his movie career. But the tone was set and Billy Bob sat out of the musical performance for the show.

Is it even possible to rebrand yourself when you are synonymous with a certain thing, like Thornton is with movies?

The Q Blog wrote that The Boxmasters “biggest claim to fame is that their singer is Oscar-winning screenwriter/actor/director Billy Bob Thornton” and Jian had said that it would be irresponsible to not mention that fact in an introduction about the band. Moreover, he stated that the mainstream media coverage they were receiving was less likely due to their relatively young music career and more to do with Thornton’s movie fame.

I don’t think it’s possible to ignore Thornton’s film success. If anything, Billy Bob further branded himself as a whack job with this idiosyncratic behavior.

The Q Blog asks, “Is being a celebrity a burden or a boon when some tries their hand in another medium?” Check out Thornton’s “blow up” and decide for yourself what Thornton makes of it: