A Gift in Honour of One’s Mother
an extract from Robert Cettl's book Film Tales: Movie Trivia in the Age of DVD (on sale now in print and soon in e-book)
Billy Bob Thornton became a highly acclaimed actor with his role in Sling Blade. But he was also a screenwriter and with his childhood friend Tom Epperson eventually got around to writing a script with his mother in mind. Or, at least the memories of his mother’s ability to accurately predict the future – she had once reportedly predicted that Thornton would work with Burt Reynolds, which he did on the TV sitcom Evening Shade. The film Thornton and his friend co-wrote would be made eventually as The Gift with Aussie Cate Blanchett in the lead role. The story of a psychic young woman though apparently personal to Thornton, was not material he would star in nor direct himself. His mother, on whom the protagonist was based, had apparently spoken out at parapsychology conventions around the USA and once had her psychic abilities tested by scientists at Duke University. On her part, Blanchett researched the role by consulting various supposed psychics and fortune-tellers, to get a feel for the role, once being told that she should get a bodyguard – though this apparently was less psychic ability than a practical suggestion for a celebrity.