Billy Bob Talks The Alamo

[Lafce]

From www.filmforce.ign.com

March 07, 2003 - USA Today recently interviewed Oscar-winning actor/filmmaker Billy Bob Thornton about his role as legendary frontiersman "Davy Crockett" in Disney's retelling of The Alamo. The newspaper has also published the first photo of Thornton in costume as Crockett (seen below). "As a kid, we all wanted to be Davy Crockett," Thornton advised USA Today from the Dripping Springs, Texas set. "I had a Davy Crockett outfit."

The 47-year-old Arkansas native admits, however, that this Alamo will strive to depict Crockett more accurately and fully than past film versions have. "He's not just some macho man swinging a rifle and killing all the Mexicans," Thornton said in a not-so-subtle allusion to the iconic images created by past Crockett thesps Fess Parker and John Wayne. "People who see this movie may say, 'Hey, wait. Davy can't be scared.' But he wasn't sure what he had gotten himself into. It's a case of someone who tried to live up to a legend his whole life then inadvertently becomes it."

Writer/director John Lee Hancock believes Thornton understands Crockett's struggle with celebrity better than he's letting on. "Billy and Crockett share a certain public/private persona," the filmmaker said. "They are both whip-smart country boys who can thrive in the bright lights as well as the backwoods. Having this understanding of the two very different sides of himself makes Billy perfect to play a man grappling with this very issue."

For his part, Thornton will only say that "I'm no stranger to this character. There are legends about my life. Some are true. Some aren't."

Here is the photo of Thornton as Crockett:



...and a picture of Croskett himself:



The Alamo opens December 12, 2003.