Entertainment Movies Historical Movies Billy Bob Thornton Reveals He 'Was Drunk' While Filming an Iconic 'Bad Santa' Scene Billy Bob Thornton is divulging behind-the-scenes secrets on the making of 2003's Bad Santa By Alexia Fernández Published on October 18, 2019 05:38PM EDT Billy Bob Thornton took a method style approach to his 2003 holiday classic Bad Santa. The actor, 64, opened up about the making of the film during a sit-down interview on Entertainment Weekly‘s Couch Surfing. Thornton played Willie T. Stokes who reunites with his friend every year for a holiday con. Posing as a Santa Claus at a mall, Stokes arrives drunk during a photocall with children looking to tell Santa about their Christmas lists. Thornton admitted he “was drunk” during the scene as a way to get into character. “It’s so obvious. I drank about three glasses of red wine for breakfast. That was just an appetizer,” he said. “Then I switched over to vodka and cranberry juice and then I had a few Bud Lights.” He continued, “By the time I got to that scene there I barely knew I was in a movie.” Moviestore/Shutterstock “The fact of the matter is I was supposed to be standing on the escalator. It dumps me out and it literally woke me up and that’s what’s in the movie,” Thornton explained. “And I get up, standing around because I thought I woke up in my house. And then I remembered what I was supposed to do. I was supposed to go there and fall down in all those gifts and be horrible in front of the kids.” Billy Bob Thornton Says His Psychic Mother Told Him He’d Win an Oscar Before He Became an Actor “At least it wasn’t a monologue,” he added. The movie also starred Tony Cox, Lauren Graham, Brett Kelly, Bernie Mac and John Ritter. It was Ritter’s final film appearance before his death in September 2003; the movie was dedicated to his memory. Bad Santa was a box office success, earning $76.5 million at the box office against a $23 million budget.