Billy Bob Thornton Talks Turning Down Green Goblin Role in SPIDER-MAN and the Villian in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III

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 the role of Green Goblin in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Manmovie and the arms dealer Owen Davian in Mission: Impossible III.

Thornton explained: “I don’t have much interest in those kinds of roles. With the Green Goblin, I didn’t feel like getting up at 4 a.m. for five or six hours of makeup.

“And with Mission: Impossible III, I didn’t want to be the guy trying to kill Tom Cruise. If you’re the bad guy in a big movie like that, audiences remember it forever. I prefer to keep things looser and less predictable.”

Yeah, I don’t see Billy Bob Thornton taking on role like this, but the characters that he has played over the years in film and TV and been a perfect fit for him.

That being said, Thornton in the role of Green Goblin would’ve been really interesting, but in the end Willem Dafoe was the one and only choice! As for Mission: Impossible III, Philip Seymour Hoffman was cast to battle with Cruise.

Would you have liked to see Thornton take on either of these roles?