Impossible” villain role, he explained, “And with ‘Mission: Impossible III,’ I didn’t want to be the guy trying to kill Tom Cruise.

Billy Bob Thornton recently revealed a couple of big roles that he turned down for some high-profile movies. While a guest on The Playlist’s “Bingeworthy” podcast , the actor talked about rejecting th

Thornton said he was approached to play Norman Osborn, aka Green Goblin, in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man.” Years later, he was up for the role of the villain in “Mission: Impossible 3.”

Billy Bob Thornton is more than happy to play a foul-mouthed Santa (“Bad Santa”) or a high school football coach (“Friday Night Lights”) or a NASA scientist (“Armageddon”), but one thing he won’t do on the big screen is kill Tom Cruise.

Billy Bob Thornton has starred in plenty of action films throughout his career, but when it came to becoming a part of Mission: Impossible, one of the most beloved action series of all time, the Landman star wasn't interested only because of the character he would play.