Actor and musician Billy Bob Thornton has been open about his Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder diagnosis, and recently, he candidly shared how the condition intensely affected him in the past by sharing an amusingly gross anecdote. The actor also discussed his overall mental health journey and restrictive diet, sharing his newfound love for grapes, oddly paired with a condiment.
In an episode of the podcast “Howie Mandel Does Stuff,” 70-year-old Billy Bob Thornton opened up about his mental health, particularly his Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), which host Howie Mandel is also diagnosed with.
While speaking with Mandel and his co-host, daughter Jackelyn Shultz, Thornton remembered a moment from the late ’80s that highlighted his obsessive-compulsive thoughts. “You wanna hear a funny, but creepy, gross funny one?” he asked, before telling his story.
Thornton shared that he was in the market pavilions in West Hollywood, waiting in line behind an older gentleman, who had a “leathery, wrinkly neck” with “200 blackheads.” There was a particularly large one that Thornton compared to a pin head. “You popped it?” Shultz asked, to which the actor replied, “No. It wasn’t that bad, but it’s close.”
Billy Bob Thornton Boinked A Stranger’s Blackhead
Thornton said that upon seeing that giant blackhead, he had an obsessive thought that just wouldn’t go away, and he had to touch it. “You’re saying you want to touch it?” Mandel asked. Thornton explained that he didn’t want to touch it, but his obsessive-compulsive thoughts made him think he needed to do it.
He decided to use a magazine rack near him and the man as a ruse. Thornton said, “I went ‘boink’ and then reached to People magazine and got it.” When the man turned around, he apologized, saying that he was just reaching for a magazine. “So anyway, I got to touch the blackhead and get out of it, you know.”
Mandel and Schultz roared with laughter, seemingly grossed out and amused at the same time. “Did you say boink?” Schultz asked. “That’s hysterical,” Mandel added. “I got over that a long time ago. I went to blackhead therapy,” Thornton joked.
The Actor Shares How ‘Exhausting’ OCD Is
Thornton shared his OCD diagnosis publicly in 2004 during an interview with Ann Curry. The actor talked about his physically and emotionally abusive father and said his upbringing might have triggered his OCD. “It exhausts you… You’re constantly doing mathematics in your head,” he told Curry. Thornton shared the same sentiment in the podcast with Mandel, saying, “It’s so emotionally and mentally exhausting that that’s one of the things that people don’t really say much.”
His symptoms manifested at a young age, and he remembers counting down with the clock while waiting for his father to come home. “I would hear the car pull in the driveway around 4 o’clock usually, and I would, in my head, I would say if I can count to a hundred five times before I hear the car come in the driveway, everything’s going to be okay,” he said.
Thornton shared that he does things similar to that despite knowing that it’s “silly,” but he isn’t able to control the compulsion.
Howie Mandel Expressed Gratitute To The Actor
Mandel has been open about his own OCD diagnosis, but it wasn’t always that way. During an appearance on “The Howard Stern Show” in 1998, his diagnosis was accidentally revealed. Mandel, who is a germophobe and is widely known for not shaking hands, had an anxiety attack when he couldn’t get out of the studio, as he didn’t want to touch the doorknob.
Thinking it was a bit, the crew jokingly prevented him from leaving, which heightened his anxiety. He then told Stern that he sees a psychiatrist for OCD, and his panic attack was real, not knowing the show was still broadcasting live.
During the podcast, Mandel revealed that Thornton reached out to him, telling him that they had a lot in common, referring to their OCD. “It was beautiful to be open with somebody about humanity and about struggling,” Mandel said. Later on in the interview, Thornton circled back, saying it was so rare to find someone in the business who didn’t talk about work or projects, and they agreed it was therapeutic to talk about their shared condition.
Billy Bob Thornton’s Restrictive Diet And Odd Food Combinations
Elsewhere in the interview, Thornton shared his aversion to certain foods due to his allergies and rare blood type, which makes it difficult for him to digest. Mandel then shared how his son, Alex, who is friends with Thornton’s son, William, once said Thornton served him bagels with cream cheese and ketchup when he was at their home. “That’s a hillbilly bagel,” Thornton said.
The actor also shared the new obsession that he discovered while in a dressing room waiting for an event to begin. The food spread didn’t have anything he could eat, except for grapes. He got a white grape, dipped it into spicy Dijon mustard, and ate it. “It was one of the best things I ever had in my lifetime,” Thornton said, adding that it’s become his new “thing.”
