The other weekend, I got to interview Billy Bob Thornton inside his trailer. American Airlines gave me the opportunity to attend an event that they were sponsoring called, Faces of our American Heroes, a fundraiser to purchase iBOT’s for wounded veterans. And performing at the event was Billy Bob Thornton and his hillbilly band--The Boxmasters.
Having spoke with quite a few celebs over the years, I wasn’t too worried, but I was a little nervous about interviewing Billy Bob as I’ve liked his performances in the movies A Simple Plan, Bandits and Armageddon. It didn’t help that when I was researching him online, I came across the fact that he has OCD and a phobia of antique furniture and heavy silverware. Not that I'd be dining with him or inviting him to sit on a Louis XIV settee or anything, either way I was anxious and afraid I would stumble over my words or develop turrets and mention Angelina Jolie when it came time to do the interview, lol ;)
In order to even interview the actor, singer, writer and musician, I had to promise that I'd only ask two questions and keep it geared towards the event and the band. I also agreed to speak with his main band members. To my surprise instead of meeting me in front of the signage for the event, I was invited into Billy Bob’s trailer to conduct the interview. Not the ideal situation for shooting and setting up camera equipment, but pretty cool nonetheless.
Inside the plush and rented trailer there were surprisingly tons of people lingering about. We were shown into the tiny bedroom area and since the guys would be sitting on the bed, my colleague had to stand half in and half out of the little bathroom with the camera held on her shoulder as I leaned my hip up on the outside sink and vanity. First entered The Boxmaster's two main players, JD Andrew and Mike Butler. We chitchatted a bit about how long their set was going to be and stuff like that when finally a lean Billy Bob entered wearing a black suit, cowboy boots and a thin black tie. I instantly thought of Johnny Cash and later wasn't too surprised to hear that some of his songs were reminiscent of the country singer too. In one hand he was smoking a cigarette the other held a green beer bottle, he then sat on the bed in between his two band members. We introduced ourselves, shook hands and I was struck by how much he oozed charm and how cool he seemed. In fact he reminded us of his powerful country-boy, cocky Presidential character in Love Actually. My questions were rather boring, but time was limited and I had already agreed to focus them on the band, their new album "Modbilly" (releasing on April 21) and their presence at the event. Everything went smoothly, Billy Bob cracked a few jokes and I kind of melted when he called me "baby" as he thanked me when we were leaving. As for their instrumental performance later on, I really enjoyed it, especially the fast paced country bluegrass beat and funny/explicit lyrics.
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