Billy Bob Thornton hasn't always been lucky in love. His marriage to his current wife, however, has us wondering: Could the sixth time be the charm?
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00:00Could the sixth time be the charm? Billy Bob Thornton met his future sixth wife, Connie
00:05England, on the set of the 2003 comedy movie Bad Santa.
00:09We met at a time when I needed somebody to meet me because I was going through kind of
00:16a lost weekend."
00:18England's sister, Carrie, had been a makeup artist for the film. Carrie apparently played
00:22matchmaker for her coworker and sister, having told Thornton that he should meet Connie when
00:27she came to visit. She felt like they would hit it off, and they did!
00:31We were together within probably a couple of months, maybe.
00:34Really?
00:35Yeah, she kind of drug me out of the gutter, which was awesome."
00:37Connie used to work in the industry behind the scenes, doing special effects on a number
00:41of major films, including the first two Men in Black movies, Planet of the Apes, and Big
00:46Mama's House. In 2012, she had a small, uncredited role in Thornton's period drama, Jane Mansfield's
00:52which Thornton had starred in, directed, and co-written.
00:55Thornton and England married in 2014. They held their wedding ceremony in the front yard
00:59of their home and were able to keep the marriage quiet from the public until they decided to
01:03share the news.
01:05The couple also have one child together, Bella, who was born in 2004. While Bella doesn't
01:10seem to have followed in her father's footsteps as an entertainer, she has attended events
01:14with her parents over the years, including the premiere of Finding Dory and the VIP opening
01:19of Universal Studios Hollywood's Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
01:23According to Thornton himself, he and Connie actually got married for their daughter. At
01:27the time, he'd been with Connie for 12 years and Bella was 11 years old.
01:31"'Cause after a while, it's like, why aren't my mommy and daddy married after 12 years?"
01:39Thornton also admits that he waited so long to marry Connie because he had a track record
01:43of short marriages and didn't want to risk their relationship.
01:47Before Connie England, Thornton had been married to five other women. Most notably,
01:51he had been married to Angelina Jolie from 2000 to 2003. He also dated Jurassic Park
01:57star Laura Dern for a while and famously married Jolie behind Dern's back. Not long after Thornton
02:03split from Jolie, he met England.
02:05Thornton is well aware of how chaotic his romantic life has been, of course, but things
02:09seem to be on the up and up for the actor, especially considering that he's been with
02:13England longer than all his previous wives combined. Speaking to Drew Barrymore in 2024,
02:19Thornton discussed how creeped out he'd felt when he read an online article about people
02:23in Hollywood who have been married the most.
02:25"'I was the only person who was alive on it.'"
02:29But Thornton and England seem to be doing well even today. Most recently, Thornton brought
02:33his wife along as his date to the 2025 Golden Globe Awards. He was nominated that night
02:38for his work on the hit Paramount Plus series, Landman.
02:42Though he lost the award to Shogun star Hiroyuki Tsunada, Thornton still looked like the king
02:46of the night with England by his side. Indeed, England has been by Thornton's side through
02:51the highs and lows of his career. In 2016, Thornton told GQ that he often internalizes
02:56negative remarks he reads about himself on the internet. But he also admitted that, when
03:00he does, England is always there, ready to remind him of his worth.