Billy Bob Thornton (born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone. In the mid-1990s, after writing, directing, and starring in the independent film Sling Blade, he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He appeared in several major film roles following Sling Blade 's success, including 1998's Armageddon and A Simple Plan. During the late 1990s, Thornton began a career as a singer-songwriter. He has released three albums and was the singer of a blues rock band.

KNOWN FOR

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2025
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2024
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2019
The Daily Show
2003
The Kelly Clarkson Show
2024
American Dad!
2016
Saturday Night Live
2001
The View
2002
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2008
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2004
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
Real Time with Bill Maher
2009

FILMOGRAPHY

All
Movies
TV
Acting
159
Directing
7
Writing
13
Producing
2
Crew
2
2026
Dernsie: The Amazing Life of Bruce Dern
2026
Primetime
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2026
The Kelly Clarkson Show
as Self
2025
If These Walls Could Rock
2025
The Electric State
as Voice (uncredited)
2025
Golden Globe Awards
as Self - Nominee
2025
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
as Self
2025
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
as Self - Guest
2024
Standing on the Shoulders of Kitties
as Self
2024
Landman
as Tommy Norris
2024
This Morning
as Self - Guest
2024
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
as Self
2024
The Kelly Clarkson Show
as Self - Guest
2024
CMT Music Awards
as Self - Presenter
2023
Devil's Peak
as Charlie McNeely
2022
Immediate Family
as Self
2022
Walk, Don't Run: The Story of The Ventures
2022
The Gray Man
as Fitzroy
2022
Harley Quinn
as Billy Bob Thornton (voice)
2021
Hollywood.Con
as Boxmaster
2021
1883
as Marshal Jim Courtright
2020
The Ventures: Stars on Guitars
2020
Picture Show: A Tribute Celebrating John Prine
as Self
2020
Chuck Leavell: The Tree Man
as Self
2019
Untouchable
as Self (archive footage)
2019
A Million Little Pieces
as Leonard
2019
ZZ Top: That Little Ol' Band from Texas
as Self
2019
Late Night with Seth Meyers
as Self
2018
Temple of Art
as Self
2018
London Fields
as Samson Young
2017
Fargo
as Narrator (voice)
2017
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
as Self
2016
What Doesn’t Kill Me: The Life and Music of Vic Chesnutt
as Self
2016
The First Boys of Spring
2016
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
as General Hollanek
2016
Bad Santa 2
as Willie Soke
2016
IRON WILL: Veterans Battle with PTSD
as Narrator
2016
Goliath
as Billy McBride
2016
American Dad!
as Billy Bob Thornton (voice)
2016
Late Night with Seth Meyers
as Self - Guest
2015
Into the Grizzly Maze
as Douglass
2015
Entourage
as Larsen McCredle
2015
Our Brand Is Crisis
as Pat Candy
2015
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead
as Self - Actor / Director
2015
Trailer Park Boys: Drunk, High and Unemployed
as Self
2014
Cut Bank
as Stan Steeley
2014
The Judge
as Dwight Dickham
2014
21 Years: Richard Linklater
as Self - Actor
2014
Fargo
as Lorne Malvo
2014
The Big Bang Theory
as Oliver Lorvis
2013
Jayne Mansfield's Car
as Skip Caldwell
2013
Parkland
as Forrest Sorrels
2013
Sport in America: Our Defining Stories
as Self
2013
Norm Macdonald Live
as Self
2012
The Baytown Outlaws
as Carlos
2012
Basically Frightened: The Musical Madness of Colonel Bruce Hampton
as Self
2011
The Smell of Success
as Patrick
2011
Dislecksia: The Movie
as Self
2011
Nashville Rises
as Narrator
2011
Harry Dean Stanton: Crossing Mulholland
2011
Puss in Boots
as Jack (voice)
2010
Faster
as Cop
2010
Ain't in It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm
as Self
2009
Levon Helm: Ramble At The Ryman
as Self
2009
Real Time with Bill Maher
as Self
2008
Eagle Eye
as Thomas Morgan
2008
The Informers
as William Sloan
2008
VH1 Rock Honors: The Who
as Self
2008
Pick Up the Pace: Making “Mr. Woodcock”
as Self
2008
Mr. Woodcock: Phys Ed Trauma Tales
as Self
2008
The Early Show
as Self
2008
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
as Self
2007
The Astronaut Farmer
as Charles Farmer
2007
Mr. Woodcock
as Jasper Woodcock
2007
Classic Albums: Frank Zappa - Apostrophe (') Over-Nite Sensation
as Self
2007
VH1 Rock Honors
2007
Classic Albums
as Self
2006
School for Scoundrels
as Dr. P
2006
NFL: Favre 4 Ever
as Narrator (voice)
2006
2006 St. Louis Cardinals: The Official World Series Film
as Narrator
2006
2006 St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Heaven: A World Championship Season
as Narrator
2006
Today
as Self
2006
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
as Self
2006
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
as Self - Guest
2005
The Ice Harvest
as Vic
2005
Bad News Bears
as Morris Buttermaker
2005
Mr. Thornton Goes to Hollywood
as Self
2005
This Week in Baseball
2005
CatDog
as CatDog's Father (voice)
2004
The Alamo
as Davy Crockett
2004
Chrystal
as Joe
2004
Friday Night Lights
as Coach Gary Gaines
2004
Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade
as Self
2004
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
as Other Voices (voice)
2004
Celebrities Uncensored
as Self
2004
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
as Self - Guest
2003
Bad Santa
as Willie
2003
Levity
as Manuel Jordan
2003
Intolerable Cruelty
as Howard D. Doyle
2003
Warren Zevon: Keep Me in Your Heart
as Narrator
2003
Love Actually
as The US President
2003
The Daily Show
as Self
2002
The Badge
as Sheriff Darl
2002
Waking Up in Reno
as Lonnie Earl Dodd
2002
Making "The Man Who Wasn't There"
as Self
2002
Inside the Actors Studio
as Self
2002
The View
as Self
2002
HypaSpace
as Self
2001
Monster's Ball
as Hank Grotowski
2001
Bandits
as Terry Lee Collins
2001
The Man Who Wasn't There
as Ed Crane
2001
Daddy and Them
as Claude Montgomery
2001
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
as Self - Guest
2001
Saturday Night Live
as Self - Host
2000
South of Heaven, West of Hell
as Brig. Smalls
2000
CatDog and the Great Parent Mystery
as Hound Dog McDog / CatDog's Step-father (voice)
2000
Arista Records' 25th Anniversary Celebration
as Self
2000
The Last Real Cowboys
as Tar
1999
Pushing Tin
as Russell Bell
1998
Armageddon
as Dan Truman
1998
A Simple Plan
as Jacob Mitchell
1998
Primary Colors
as Richard Jemmons
1998
Homegrown
as Jack Marsden
1998
An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn
as Self
1998
King of the Hill
as Boyce Hubert (voice)
1997
U Turn
as Darrell
1997
The Apostle
as Troublemaker
1997
A Gun, a Car, a Blonde
as Syd / Monk
1997
The Oscars
as Self
1996
Sling Blade
as Karl Childers
1996
Don't Look Back
as Marshall
1996
The Winner
as Jack
1995
The Stars Fell on Henrietta
as Roy
1995
Out There
as Jailbird
1995
Dead Man
as Big George Drakoulious
1994
On Deadly Ground
as Homer Carlton
1994
Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade
as Karl Childers
1994
Floundering
as Gun Clerk
1993
Indecent Proposal
as Day Tripper
1993
Tombstone
as Johnny Tyler
1993
Bound by Honor
as Lightning
1993
Grey Knight
as Langston
1993
Living and Working in Space: The Countdown Has Begun
as Rowdy Udall
1993
Trouble Bound
as Coldface
1992
One False Move
as Ray Malcolm
1992
Hearts Afire
as Billy Bob Davis
1992
Knots Landing
as Timberman
1991
The Dark Backward
as Patron at Sloppy's
1991
For the Boys
as Marine Sergeant, Korea
1991
Evening Shade
as Alvin
1990
The Outsiders
as Buck Merrill
1989
Chopper Chicks in Zombietown
as Tommy
1989
Going Overboard
as Dave
1988
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
as Self - Audience Member
1988
South of Reno
as Counterman
1988
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1987
Matlock
as Pawnshop Clerk
1986
Hunter's Blood
as Billy Bob
Somedays