Billy Bob Thornton says just being himself led to movie stardom

As a young man coming up in Hollywood, Billy Bob Thornton was shown the door.

“ ‘You’re too ugly to be a leading man, and you’re too pretty to be a character actor,’ ” he recalls being told. “I decided to just be Billy Bob Thornton.”

Smart move.

It’s led the 70-year-old Hot Springs, Arkansas, native to a career full of memorable roles, including “Sling Blade” “Goliath,” “Fargo,” “Bad Santa” and now “Landman.”

The oil business drama, currently in its second season, is one of the biggest streaming hits on Paramount+.

Thornton says all the credit belongs to series creator Taylor Sheridan.

“Taylor gives us people who are unabashedly themselves,” he says.

In Season 2, Thornton’s character Tommy Norris has more responsibilities as president of the fictional petroleum company M-Tex now that CEO Monty Miller (Jon Hamm) has died, leaving the company to his wife, Cami (Demi Moore).

“He is a reluctant president because he can’t quite give up being a landman. He does not want to be a suit, because when you are a suit there is always something being thrown at you,” the actor says, adding, “I’m pretty much playing myself if I was a landman.”

Thornton, who also finds time to front his ’60s-inspired rock band The Boxmasters, lives in Los Angeles. with his wife, Connie Angland. His good life tips:

Enjoy the wins

The new season of “Landman” isn’t just a critical hit. It also has sweet surprises such as character actor Sam Elliott joining the cast to play Thornton’s father. “I told Taylor the other day, ‘I’m happy. You’re happy. The season is going so smoothly. Something must be wrong,’ ” Thornton says with a laugh. “We shouldn’t go there … to the negative. Enjoy the wins.”

‘All of it’

The appeal of “Landman”? It’s pretty obvious for Thornton. “You get to watch a show that raises the curtain on a business that’s not normally seen on TV,” he says. “You see how these people react to each other. And Taylor just writes great dialogue and great characters. They’re very well drawn. … ‘Landman’ has humor, drama, emotion, absurdity, emotion, all of it.”

Hanging with friends

Thornton says the “Landman” cast — which includes Ali Larter, Demi Moore and Andy Garcia — doesn’t just hightail it home after a day of filming. “We hang out after the show,” he says. “Ali will say, ‘Hey, we’re going to dinner. Andy is coming. Sam is coming. And we’re not going to that dump out there by your house! If you take me there one more time, I will kill you! We’re going to a place with Champagne. I’m not going to that redneck place anymore!’ ”

Acting idols

“Sam Elliott is one of my heroes. I came into this business wanting to be like Sam,” Thornton says. “I had three guys I watched from when I started — Sam Elliott, Robert Duvall and Gene Hackman. What I respected about them is that you don’t see them acting. They’re completely authentic.”

Beauty of a new day

“With age, I embrace where the day might take me,” Thornton says. “You never know. Around the next corner, you might meet someone new and say, ‘I feel like I’ve known you for 25 years.’ That’s the beauty of a new day. You never know what will happen.”

Odd jobs

Thornton had a lengthy list of occupations before stardom struck: pizza parlor, machine shop, sawmill, shoveling asphalt, truck driving and hauling heavy equipment. He says even so-called boring jobs have their silver linings. “I knew that even the most boring job would be good fodder for future things,” he says. “Everything can be inspiration for a different time in your life. You just don’t know the lessons you’re learning at the time. … When you’re so incredibly bored in life or at a job, you might get that big idea in your head. My short stories and the dream of coming to California came to me during a job I did slotting screws.”

‘Special skill’

“I grew up with obsessive compulsive disorder and dyslexia and anxiety disorder,” Thornton says. “Sometimes what people consider afflictions help you in other areas of our life.” Take his long monologues in “Landman.” “I don’t read left to right like a normal person. I see things in chunks. I also have a photographic memory. So, I can memorize things easily. Somewhere in the weird world of my brain that is my special skill.”

Find your groove

“I don’t know every line of every movie. I do know every liner note from my favorite albums. You have to pick your passion and dive in,” he says. “I love music and movies and TV.”

Talk to everyone

“I’ll talk for an hour to a mom whose kid is in dental school. The fans pay for my life. They allow me to do what I do — and I’m grateful,” he says. “The point is to listen to people. Get into it. You can learn from anyone.”

Listen to Johnny Cash

“Johnny told me, ‘Never betray yourself. If it doesn’t feel honest to you, then just don’t do it,’” Thornton shares.