The actor and singer has played some supremely edgy dudes in his time (from malevolent psycho-killer Ray Malcolm in self-penned breakout film One False Move, to cuddly psycho-killer Karl Childers in self-helmed Oscar-winner Sling Blade).
He comes, one realises at short hand, with pre-aura.
In the é90s, as Billy Bob became more famous, sympathetic roles beckoned just as tempestuous tabloid tittle-tattle began to blow about like Chicago refuse.
Now, in his latest film Bad Santa, he turns the worldés best-loved mythological philanthropist on his head, playing a dissolute department store Santa Claus with a lucrative sideline in safe breaking.
In person, Billy Bobés laidback wit is not a disappointment. Our encounter is marked by all the cheerful indiscretions and mischievous leg-pulls one could hope for from an A-list star with a reputation for off-screen truculence.
éIf you could say there was anything that was the opposite of me about this character ités the fact that I love Christmas,é he explains, that Arkansas buzz fizzing the air.
éI have children - 10 and 11-year-old boys and a one-month-old girl - so Christmas is really a special time. Iém actually quite sentimental about it. The thing that might be more similar to me in the movie is all the other stuff that he does.
"I donét mind a smoke every now and then. And Iéve been known to take a drink occasionally.é
To read the rest of this interview buy this week's City Life (issue 560). Out now priced é1.50.
Bad Santa is released nationwide on Friday, November 5. You can read a review below.
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