Billy Bob Thornton is the type of parent that was looking at real estate as his daughter was touring potential college towns.
If you’ve seen any interview that the Landman star has done as of late, you probably noticed that he’s chosen to rock a “Cal Poly” shirt a lot of the times. Why has the 70-year-old actor all of the sudden taken up so much school spirit for the central California university? Because his daughter, Bella, is currently a sophomore there.
Thornton, his wife Connie Angland, and his daughter all fell in love with polytechnic university when they initially toured, and they quickly became enamored with the surrounding area as well. Billy Bob’s daughter eventually decided to attend Cal Poly, and Thornton couldn’t be happier for her, as he told KSBY:
“I’m so proud. I say it everywhere I go. I’ll tell somebody unsolicited. Some lady is looking through the gem store for crystals or something and I’ll just go, ‘Yeah, my daughter goes to Cal Poly.’ I feel like an idiot sometimes, but there is a sense of pride about it.”
Not only does he say it wherever he goes, he wears it wherever he goes.
And Billy Bob Thornton has turned into a proud helicopter parent. He and his wife bought bought a second home just 12 minutes from Cal Poly’s campus, and he’s really enjoyed being close to his daughter and exploring the San Luis Obispo, California area.
“It was just a natural fit for us. You’ve got peace and quiet, but you’ve got action if you want to go over there. We just thought, ‘Why not?’ If we’re ever going to have a second place to live, this is kind of it…
There’s an innocence. There’s something that reminds me of when I was growing up out here… I think Los Angeles has become a TV show itself. When I come here, I can just breathe. The central coast is definitely, by far, my favorite part of California.”
Then again, it’s probably not that hard to be near your daughter when she’s going to school in a beautiful part of California. Would he be seeing the same thing if she picked some school in Nebraska? I don’t think so. But it’s also a very convenient place for Thornton to spend a lot of time, because he’s still only a little over two hours away from his other home in the Los Angeles area.
When he’s not working, or touring with The Boxmasters, Billy Bob Thornton says he does his best to spend as much time with Bella as he can. Staying in the Cal Poly area has not only led to more family time… it’s also acted as an inspiring time for his music. Thornton also revealed that his upcoming project that he’s releasing with his band was entirely inspired by the SLO and Morro Bay area:
“Our new record for the Boxmasters comes out June 12 and it’s called ‘In The Bay.’ Every song on the record was inspired by Morro Bay, or I was inspired while I was here. I wrote the whole record here.”
So in a way, I guess you could say that Billy Bob Thornton has a potential yacht rock, helicopter parent concept album on the way this summer?
