Actor Billy Bob Thornton said he faced prejudice upon arrival in Hollywood because he's Southern and believes it still exists today.
The acclaimed actor and Arkansas native, 70, who skyrocketed to fame in the film Sling Blade, went on to score an Academy Award nomination for his role in A Simple Plan. He later found success on TV in programs like Fargo and Landman. But in his early days in Hollywood, getting roles was a serious struggle, even if he was supposed to be portraying someone who grew up in the American South.
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"There was a prejudice in Hollywood when I first got out there. There still kind of is," Thornton said on a recent appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, Fox News reported.
"The first thing I ever auditioned for in LA was a student film. The part was some guy that just got off the turnip truck from Alabama, and I thought, 'Well, I probably got this.' And I was broke, and it wasn't going to pay anything, but I didn't care," Thornton recalled.
However, the response wasn't what he expected.
"I did my little audition, and they said, ‘Can you do it more Southern?’ And I’m like, ‘Are you sh---ing me? I actually did just get off the truck from back there, and this is how you talk," Thornton said, recalling that they told him he wasn't "Southern enough."
"They wanted the Foghorn Leghorn accent. I never heard anybody talk — I grew up down there — I never heard that," he said.
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Thornton Says There's a Prejudice Against Southerners
"Southerners don’t often get picked or even noticed for things. Like, let’s say, you’re doing a gangster movie in the '30s in New York. Even if you can do the accent, people from New York can get parts playing Southerners. That still goes on," Thornton said.
"That’s the stereotype of the coastal cities, right? It's the stereotype that comes out of New York and LA. It’s like everything else is stupid," Rogan replied, adding that "When you’re in control of casting and all the great films and albums, you dismiss the people in the middle as less than or that the people are not as bright. That stereotype still exists today."
Thornton did mention that when a star does "reach a certain level," their background doesn't matter as much.
Related: Demi Moore and Billy Bob Thornton Cuddle Up on the Red Carpet
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