Billy Bob Thornton says the so-called vials of blood worn by him and ex-wife Angelina Jolie were a “romantic little idea” mischaracterized by the media.
The 70-year-old “Landman” star told Rolling Stone that though such vials “never existed,” he and his fellow Oscar winner, now 50, “each had a little locket, literally with a drop of blood in them.”
“That’s a romantic little idea, and that’s all that was,” Thornton said. “But by the time it’s over, we’re vampires. We live in a dungeon, we drink each other’s blood, and this kind of stuff.”
The “Pushing Tin” co-stars were married from 2000 to 2003 and “had a great time together,” though Thornton — who was “the more famous one” upon the start of their relationship — found it “pretty weird” for the press to be so focused on their romance.
“We couldn’t go anywhere,” he recalled. “I mean, we did, and then of course we had times when we would say things that became sound bites or whatever.”
Despite the short union, Thornton — who has been married six times total — says he still considers his relationship with Jolie as “one of the greatest times” of his life.
“She and I are still very, very close friends. And that was the one that ended up being a really civilized breakup,” continued Thornton, who’s reported to have eloped with Jolie while engaged to Laura Dern, or just after ending the latter relationship. “We simply split up because our lifestyles were so different.”
The same year Thornton and Jolie’s divorce was finalized, he began a relationship with makeup and special effects technician Connie Angland. The two welcomed daughter Bella in 2004 and have been married since 2014.
Jolie, meanwhile, went on to have a longterm relationship with Brad Pitt, beginning in 2005 and ending with their separation in 2016 after two years of marriage. The stars, who were declared legally single in 2019, are still embroiled in a bitter dispute over their French winery Château Miraval.
