CraveOnline: Has there been any progress on getting your cut of All the Pretty Horses released?
Billy Bob Thornton: Well, we were offered the chance to do it years ago, so I can’t really blame the studio. I mean, it wasn’t that they would never allow me to make one. Years and years ago, they mentioned that I should do that but at the time, Daniel Lanois, whose score was taken out of the movie, one of the most beautiful scores I’ve ever heard on a movie. and Dan and I worked very hard on that, getting it just right and it really was beautiful in the movie. And I was forced to take that out of the movie. Dan, at that time… I said, “Well, look. They said we can put it out on DVD,” and he said, “Well, I sure wished they’d put it in the theater, so I’d rather not use my score on the DVD. I think it deserved to be on the big screen.” And I agreed with my pal and co-worker, so we didn’t do it.
You know, Marty Stewart did a terrific job on the score. He’s a friend of mine. I was at least allowed to pick someone I know to redo the score. Essentially, what they wanted was a bigger score, you know what I mean? Whereas they thought Dan’s score was too sparse. A lot of times, people may get awards for big, bombastic scores and a lot of extras and that type of thing. So, “Hey, it looks important, it sounds important. It must be important.” [Laughs] So, that was kind of the deal there, but since then, Dan and I have talked about it and if we ever have the opportunity now, I think he and I both kind of caved in to the idea that we should show people what we really made. So hopefully we will one day.
I’d love to see it.
I’d love for you to see it, I really would.
I thought the use of the score in Jayne Mansfield’s Car was very interesting because it stays out of the way for such a long time, and then it comes up at almost unusual moments, like when you’re looking at O’Connor, before you talk to her. It comes up and I’m like, “Oh, hey, interesting.” Was there a philosophy into that or did that just feel right?
Well, it’s because in life, have you ever had to go…? Let’s say you go to the mall, with your aunt, who hates you, but your mother says, “You’re going to the mall with your Aunt Peggy, today. I don’t give a shit what you say.” And you go to the mall and maybe, the mall is just a mundane place and your aunt’s shopping for big women’s underwear. So, that’s really all that’s happening but in your mind, it’s like this nightmare. So, in your head, the score you’re hearing is this chaotic orchestration, or like, a Captain Beefheart song. [Laughs] You know what I mean? It’s like, to you, that’s what it seems like. And that’s the reason for that.
See, when Skip goes over to ask Frances if it’s cool with her if he beats off while she talks, it’s got that kind of weird, jazzy thing behind it? Well, that’s the way Skip feels right now. He’s had a few cocktails, he’s gonna go talk to the exotic chick, and that’s the score, so that’s part of my sense of humor, is what it is. So, that’s why that whole barbecue sequence has that kind of weird, semi-jazzy kind of thing to it. You know, with the organ and the vibes and all that stuff? And then the montage for the car wreck, it’s like this grand thing to Duvall’s character, you know. It’s like, this is the big rock show for him, going to that accident.
So yeah, that thinking is what went behind that and that’s why there are a couple different types of music along the way. When Skip drives his car in the very beginning and comes pulling in, when we see the mansion for the first time, he drives up in the Corvette and it’s got that sort of beautifully grandiose kind of music. Well, that’s the way Skip feels when he’s in his cars, you know? So yeah, the music was really just about the character in the moment.
Did you always know that you were going to play Skip?
Yeah. I mean, I wrote those parts for specific people.
Did you get everyone you intended to?
Not quite. Almost. A couple of people I didn’t know before. Ray Stevenson and Katherine LaNasa and Frances, I didn’t really know before. So, I had to cast for those people and they were some of the ones who were offered up and they were the ones who were right for the roles. So, that’s always a good thing about making a movie. Everybody else in there, they’re friends of mine and I just call them, myself. Kevin Bacon, I’ve known for years, we had never worked together. Robert Patrick’s an old friend. I directed him in All The Pretty Horses. Duvall and I have worked together a lot. John Hurt and I have known each other for 25 years.
So, you know, I just called them up, but the other people, who are now friends, also getting to work with new people, that I was thrilled by. John Patrick Amedori and Marshall Allman, who played the grandsons, and Shawnee Smith, I didn’t know her. Never worked with her. She’s terrific. She had a small role and she did so much with it. And then Irma P. Hall had been in A Family Thing, that Tom and I wrote years ago for Duvall, so we knew Irma.
I admired the way you used Ray Stevenson, because most people only put him in a movie so he can beat up guys.
Yeah, exactly. [Laughs]
Here, his toughness really sort of belied his character because he’s still big. You know, he cuts a fine figure but his character is going through something so sensitive and I really admired his performance.
Yeah, me too. It was great. I was happy to see Ray in a part like this because like you said, he’s usually got a sword in his hand or something and to see him be a guy who is whipped down by his father like this, it shows the power of our parents, and just how, if you don’t have acceptance from your parents or if you don’t feel heard by them or respected, it doesn’t matter how big or tough you are. That’s something that devastates us all.
It’s been a while since your last narrative feature that you wrote and directed, do you have one that you’re working on now? Are we going to have to wait this long for the next one?
Well, you know, I’ve got a couple in my head that are even less accessible than what I normally do. [Laughs] So, I’m sure the investors can’t wait to see me coming. So I’ve got a couple of pretty creepy ideas in mind, yeah. They’re more of the same. More of my love of Steinbeck and Faulkner and Erskine Caldwell and Tennessee Williams and all these various people. A couple other movies about people and their struggle in life. They’re at very early stages.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
