Billy Bob Thornton Talks Music Vs. Movies

Billy Bob Thornton is hard pressed to decide whether making music or films is more personal.

"I've talked to my peers and compadres of that world -- like Levon Helm and Kris Kristofferson, who do both acting and music -- and we all agree that there's a real deep satisfaction in both of them. It just feels different. I could use some very graphic sexual analogies, but I won't," Thornton tells The Boot, laughing.

The jack-of-all-trades (singer, songwriter, drummer, actor, screenwriter, producer) has made 57 films and played music all his life.

"The main difference I find is when you're making a movie, it's a very solitary thing because you're out on a location or on a stage with a certain group of people who are together for months, and when you finish that thing, you're not doing it to an audience. You're doing it amongst yourselves. It would be more like a rehearsal for a tour or a recording session. Then when you have finished that movie, you move on to another one and when that one comes out, you've almost forgotten what you did and you're not there with the audience to see it.

"In music, you make a record and it comes out fairly soon, and then you're out there touring and you're face to face with the people you're trying to get to listen to it. I think the visceral feeling of making music is more intense, but on the other hand, making a movie has a real special feeling too, because you're disappearing into some world, playing a character ... So there's a real satisfaction in both of them; they just feel different. One is a more wild abandon and one is a more internal soul searching kind of thing."

Thornton has released four solo albums and two with his country-rock band, The Boxmasters.