Tuesday, October 25, 2011

-06- COUNTDOWN to HALLOWEEN: Billy Bob Thornton on the Zombie Walk of Fame

Biscuits, Brains and Mustard (inks on bristol / 2010-11
When I saw Sling Blade in the theater as a teenager, I was terrified by the opening sequence with the interview of Karl Childers played by Billy Bob Thorton.  The feature film originated as a short two year the prior (Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade) which was composed of Karl's monologue, only he was being interviewed by Molly Ringwald who didn't make a return in the full length film.  There was an underlying horror to the psyche of Thornton's character, which came out in a primal way through his logic and action.  This touching story of a simple man, who's character was woven with infinite layers of creation by the actor, was one of the best independent films of the 90's and one of my favorites of all time.


My Zombification of the day is inspired by the character of Karl since he was Billy Bob Thornton's original creation.  Story has the actor ad-libbed the entire monologue mentioned above while rehearsing in his makeup room for a small part in The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains as a train conductor.  The clip ended up on the cutting room floor, however the monologue he created while practicing his lines went on to become iconic.  In the movie Sling Blade, Karl had a fondness for biscuits with mustard smeared on them.  I took it a step further by included a biscuit freshly smothered with brains and mustard!  Here are a couple of process pics I shared on the social networks yesterday as previews of today's star from The Zombie Walk of Fame...




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